Peanut Salad
Ingredients
2 servings
For the salad
- Roasted peanuts 100 g
- Spinach 150 g
- Bell pepper 1
- Scallions 3-4
- Cilantro 0.5 bunch
For the dressing
- Green “chili” 1
- Light soy sauce 2 tbsp (and a little more if needed)
- Garlic 1-2 cloves
- Ginger a piece the size of a walnut
- Brown sugar 1 tsp (5 g)
- Black vinegar (or balsamic, or wine vinegar) 1 tsp
Step-by-step recipe
Peanuts and herbs
To make the peanut salad you can buy all the ingredients at the store, as there is nothing exotic in it. Spinach can be replaced with any other greens, even arugula.
Roast the peanuts: toast the shelled peanuts in a dry skillet over medium heat, stirring, until lightly golden and fragrant, then let them cool. If you bought ready-roasted salted peanuts, rinse them and dry them in a skillet – they will smell better.
Prepare the greens: wash all the greens and pat them dry. It is ideal if you bought spinach that is already washed and ready to eat – then there is no fuss at all. Put the leaves in a bowl and add the coarsely chopped cilantro.
Slice the scallions and pepper and mix them with the greens. Cut the scallions on a diagonal to get long strips, as in the tiger salad. Seed the bell pepper and cut it into thin strips. Mix everything in a bowl – no need to add salt, as the soy sauce in the dressing is salty enough.
Dressing
Make the dressing hot. That said, it is up to you: whether or not to use “chili” is a matter of taste.
Make the dressing: in a small bowl, mix finely chopped “chili”, 1–2 garlic cloves, a piece of ginger the size of a walnut and 1 tsp of brown sugar (5 g). Add 1 tsp of black vinegar (balsamic or wine vinegar works too). Pour in 2 tbsp of light soy sauce and stir everything together. Wait 2–3 mins for the sugar to dissolve. If there is not enough dressing, add a little more soy sauce.
Serving
Assemble the salad and add the dressing: arrange the spinach with the pepper and herbs on plates or in small salad bowls, add the roasted peanuts and toss lightly. Pour the dressing over the salad and serve right away. Really, there is no need to toss the salad after dressing it, as the dressing mixes with the greens by itself.
As an alternative, you can make this appetizer with slightly bitter leaves – frisée and endive work best. Instead of sugar you can add mirin to the dressing. In Asia, various ready-made sauces are often added to the dressing: fish sauce, Worcestershire sauce, mustard, as well as sesame or peanut oil. Another option is to crush some of the peanuts and leave the rest whole. This salad is often called a “tiger” salad, although it is made differently.
Calories and macros
370 kcal
Serving ≈ 270 g
- Protein18 g19% of kcal
- Fat26 g63% of kcal
- Carbs17 g18% of kcal
100 g139 kcalProtein 6.6 gFat 9.6 gCarbs 6.4 g
Calculated from the recipe ingredients, excluding salt and spices. Data: USDA and Matvaretabellen.