Rainbow Salad with Peanut Dressing
Rainbow salad with Best ever peanut sauce – its full of healthy colorful vegetables. This salad is not vegan, but you can easily veganize it by using brown sugar instead of honey. Its great for meal prepping and potlucks.
This Rainbow Salad is great made-ahead and keeps well in the fridge -perfect for lunches and anytime meals because the vegetables are crunchier, it really stays fresh for long time.
Veggies like red cabbage, carrots, broccoli slaw etc stay crunchy in the salad, even over several days. The creamy peanut sauce is a very delicious pairing.
I love to make extra peanut sauce and use it for with summer rolls, or Tofu satay. A perfectly grilled tofu or paneer, with this peanut sauce, is a welcome addition in the salad or by itself. I love using orange juice sometimes in the dressing instead of lime, it enhances the flavors so much.
The peanut dressing is my favorite part. This salad is perfect for summer weather. It has mango in it, which is also my favorite part.
I have used a lot of colorful and different veggies. You can change some of it to your liking and mix and match.
Vegetables I have used broccoli slaw and carrot slaw, red cabbage, two different colors of bell peppers, snap peas (love the sweetness), and lots of lettuce. You can swap any kind of lettuce or some kale too will be good. I have also used some cukes (definitely use firmer ones). I happen to have some edamame in the frozen, so I added those too. So many nutrients in them.
The only fruit I have added is Mangoes, but I can easily see pears or apples fitting in too.
Herbs – I have used three types of herbs. They bring out so much freshness in the salads. I have used mint, scallions and cilantro. I can also see dill, parsley and tarragon may be tasting great too. Feel free to experiment and try something new. Its always good to make a recipe in your ways too.
Nuts– I have used peanuts duh we are using peanut dressing so well fitting. But you can also use cashews for that matter. I have also sprinkled some black sesame seeds. Colorful salad needs all colors in them.
Hope you like this crisp and creamy salad full of nutrients. It feels good to take bites of healthy foods. Lol. Best thing about this salad is that it is filling. It does need some chopping and prepping but totally worth it. It stays fresh longer though. If you want to make it more heavier meal, you can add cooked quinoa, brown rice, soba noodles, etc. You will need extra dressing though. So, adjust accordingly.
Peanut Sauce– I used non-sweetened, chunky style peanut sauce. But I don’t see why you cannot use any other variety. Go with what you like. If you have sweet peanut butter, use it just balance out the sugar or honey. The other ingredients are hot sauce to balance, lime or orange juice, coconut aminos or tamari can be subbed. Ginger and garlic perk up the dressing. I have also used rice wine vinegar, it’s a great addition to have in your pantry. I love the mild flavor of toasted sesame oil in this dish. I also use sesame oil in dumpling, scallion pancakes recipe. Honey for some sweetness.
Rainbow Salad with Peanut Dressing
Ingredients
Veggies
- 2 cups of lettuce
- 1 cup red or green cabbage
- 1 cup carrot
- 1 cup broccoli slaw
- ½ cup any color bell pepper
- ½ cup snap peas
- 1 cucumber
- 1 mango
- 1/3 cup edamame
Herbs
- ¼ cup scallions only green parts
- ¼ cup cilantro chopped
- 5-7 mint leaves
Nuts
- ¼ cup Lightly roasted peanuts
- 1 tsp Sesame seeds
optional toppings
- fried rice noodles/Wonton noodles
- grilled tofu
- brown rice / soba noodles/quinoa
Peanut Butter Dressing
- ¼ cup peanut butter
- 1 inch piece ginger
- 1 clove garlic
- 1 tbsp coconut aminos or tamari soy sauce can be sub
- 2 tbsp lime or orange juice
- 2 tbsp rice wine vinegar
- 1 tsp sesame seed oil toasted
- 1 tsp hot sauce or red chili flakes (sriracha)
- 1 tsp salt
- 1 tbsp honey agave or maple syrup (sub)
Instructions
- Whisk all the ingredients of the dressing and add about ¼ cup water. Start off with less water and then see if its enough runny. Taste it if it needs anything more, add. Set aside.
- Chop all the vegetables. I prefer julienne them so that all of them are in same size. Assemble everything in big mixing bowl.
- To assemble-
- Toss the salad mix in a bowl with peanut dressing and add the herbs, roughly chopped peanuts and sprinkle sesame seeds with some lime slices. Serve immediately.
XO, Devangi
Really crunchy and delicious, will be saving this recipe for the 4th of July!!
Hope you liked it!