Once Upon A Chef"s Asian Slaw with Ginger-Peanut Dressing My Way

A Main Dish Salad-Photo by Shannon

Salad is good and good for you, but I get tired of the same old salad, that is greens and veggies with some kind of dressing. I am always on the lookout for a new salad recipe so I can get in some extra vegetables while keeping eating interesting. I love my favorite taco salad, and it has become a staple salad for me. When I make my vegetarian chili, I freeze some in a muffin tin, pop them out once they're frozen, and store  the individual "chili muffins" in a large Ziploc bag, so that whenever I want taco salad, I can take out a muffin and thaw the perfect salad amount of chili.It works great.

This week, I tried a new recipe: Once Upon A Chef's Asian Slaw with Ginger-Peanut Dressing. It is great as a side dish, but I turned it into a main dish salad (see above photo by me:)  I have to say that it was pretty great. Even DH liked it. I am re-posting the recipe below along with my changes/substitutions and personal recipe review notes in blue. And don't forget to check out Once Upon A  Chef's website.

This recipe get 4 spoons.

Asian Slaw with Ginger-Peanut Dressing


Serves 6 as a side dish


Ingredients:
For the Dressing


¼ cup honey (I used half honey, half agave syrup)
¼ cup vegetable oil
¼ cup unseasoned rice vinegar*
1 tablespoon soy sauce
1 teaspoon Asian sesame oil (I put this in a 1/4 cup measure, then added vegetable oil to the top.)
1 tablespoon peanut butter (I used Skippy Natural No Need to Stir) (I used Jiff Natural Low Sodium.)
½ teaspoon salt (I did not add this.)
½ teaspoon Sriracha sauce (Thai hot sauce…optional) (I didn't have this, so I put in some Cholula.)
1 tablespoon minced fresh ginger (I just sprinkled  in some ginger powder.)
1 large garlic clove, minced (I sprinkled in some garlic powder.)

For the Slaw:


4 cups prepared shredded coleslaw
2 cups prepared shredded carrots (or grated in food processor)
1 red pepper, thinly sliced into bite size pieces (I am allergic to pepper and so I left them out.)
1 cup pre-cooked, shelled edamame
2 medium scallions, finely chopped
½ cup chopped salted peanuts (you can also leave them whole)
½ cup loosely packed chopped fresh cilantro


Directions:


1. Make the dressing by combining all ingredients in medium bowl. Stir until peanut butter is dissolved. Set aside.


2. Combine all of the slaw ingredients in a large bowl. Add dressing and toss well. Let sit at least 10 minutes so vegetables have a chance to soak up the dressing. Taste and adjust seasoning if necessary (I usually add a bit more salt but go by your own taste). Serve cold.


*Unseasoned Rice Vinegar is not the same as Seasoned Rice Vinegar, which has added salt and sugar. Be sure to use straight rice vinegar or else the dressing will be too salty and sweet. I've also used Brown Rice Vinegar (sold at Whole Foods) with excellent results.

I made this side dish a main dish salad by putting it on a bed of spinach & mixed greens. Then I sprinkled on a few more peanuts and broken up rice crackers for extra crunch. I think wonton strips or crispy rice noodles would be excellent toppings. I also think that next time, I will add some tiny raw broccoli florettes or maybe try it with a mixture of regular and broccoli slaw.It has all kinds of possibilities

 A note about the peanuts: They will absorb the dressing and marinate, and while they are very flavorful, they will end up getting softer, especially if you keep it more than a day or so. I think using some peanuts in the slaw and having some extra for sprinkling is the best.

A note about the dressing:  It was delicious, make no bones about it, but if you run into time constraints, I think a good substitute for the homemade dressing would be Litehouse Ginger Sesame Dressing . The flavors are very similar. I always prefer homemade whenever possible though.