Indonesian Garden Salad with Peanut Satay Sauce

This dish can be served as a meal, an appetizer, or as a side salad. It’s an easy way to get children to eat their vegetables as they love to dip and they love peanut butter! Go crazy choosing all kinds of vegetables for the platter. Choose fresh produce in season, such as snow peas, cauliflower, broccoli, carrots, and bell pepper. Bean sprouts, eggs, and tofu add protein to the dish (along with the peanut butter in the Satay Sauce) to help make it a complete and easy-to-prepare meal.

Satay Sauce:

2 Tbsp (30 mL) fresh ginger, minced, or 3/4 tsp (3.5 mL) ground ginger
1/2 cup (125 mL) coconut milk
1/2 cup (125 mL) peanut butter
4 tsp (20 mL) tamari soy sauce
4 tsp (20 mL) fresh lemon juice
Salt and freshly ground pepper

Indonesian Garden Salad:

1 cup (250 mL) baby carrots
1 cup (250 mL) snow peas
1 cup (250 mL) chopped cauliflower, in bite-sized pieces
12 oz (340 grams) extra-firm tofu
2 Tbsp (30 mL) extra virgin olive oil
1 cup (250 mL) bean sprouts
1 cup (250 mL) thinly sliced red bell pepper
1 cup (250 mL) thinly sliced cucumber
2 hard-boiled eggs, sliced

To prepare Satay Sauce, drop fresh ginger into blender jar with blender motor running. Add coconut milk, peanut butter, soy sauce, and lemon juice. Puree until smooth, scraping down the sides of blender jar as required. Season with salt and freshly ground pepper. Cover and chill (the mixture will keep for one week when refrigerated).

To assemble salad, using a wok or steamer, saut?r steam the carrots, snow peas, and cauliflower for 3 to 5 minutes. They should be firm and brightly coloured–not too soft. Chop tofu into 1-in (2.5-cm) pieces. Heat oil in frying pan and brown tofu on all sides. Arrange all salad items on serving platter and garnish with bean sprouts and egg slices. Pour Satay Sauce over salad or serve it on the side as a dipping sauce. Serves 4 as a meal.

source: "Your Vegetable Garden May Be Your Best Nutrient Source", alive #374, August 2005