Wednesday, August 19, 2009

Cucumber Salad with Roasted Peanut Dressing

With the grilled fish and shrimp with coconut and lime sauce, I wanted to serve a light, crunchy salad on the side. I grabbed a book I hadn’t used for a long time and found just the thing. The Vegetarian Table Thailand was published back in 1997, and it’s full of light and lovely dishes that pack a lot of flavor. I’ve made the salad rolls with a spicy dipping sauce with hoisin and sambal ulek and the Chinese cabbage with peanut sauce. Now that I’ve looked at the book again, I’m reminded that I need to try the vegetarian jungle curry and the eggs in sweet and spicy sauce. From the salads chapter, I could have chosen green papaya salad or roasted eggplant salad, but I went with the cucumber salad with roasted peanut dressing. It was a colorful combination of red bell pepper, green beans, and of course cucumbers.

Cucumber and red bell pepper were cut into matchsticks. Then, green beans and bean sprouts were blanched and added to the raw vegetables along with cilantro leaves, shredded basil leaves, chopped green onions, and chopped roasted peanuts. A quick dressing was made from lime juice, brown sugar, minced garlic, finely chopped red chiles, and more chopped roasted peanuts. As I mixed the dressing, I wondered if there should have been a little light vegetable oil included. With just lime juice as a liquid, I thought it might be too tart. However, the chopped peanuts rounded out the flavor perfectly without any added oil, and the bit of brown sugar took the edge off the lime juice’s acidity.

I prepared the salad and let it sit in the refrigerator as the rest of the meal was put together, and it emerged cool and crisp with well-distributed flavor. I wished I had some Thai basil to use in this, but the genovese variety worked perfectly fine. The salad was delightfully crunchy with a good variety of tastes and textures. The spice level was mild, but the chile added another dimension. It was a nice surprise to find out how satisfying this salad was given its lightness. With bright, fresh flavors, good crunch, and the nuttiness, it didn’t require anything else to make it great.





35 comments:

  1. I've said it before but you put the food blog world to shame. Not sure how you find the time to post as often as you do, but keep them coming. I have a soft spot for any salad with cucumber right now, since that's what's all over the backyard (that and the wonderful Sungold heirloom tomatoes). Actually, I can pretty much make this salad right out of the backyard, which is my favorite way to cook. I like a lighter dressing with higher acidity (perhaps as I get older my taste buds require more stimulation....) and this one, without oil, sounds just about perfect.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Love the cucumber in this salad. Beautiful salad, full of flavor!

    ReplyDelete
  3. A delicious side for your spicy fish dish. I love the lime dressing!

    ReplyDelete
  4. A salad that makes people happy ^^

    ReplyDelete
  5. great flavors and colors. this justifies the 'weird' sandwich i used to make as a kid: peanut butter and cucumber. it rocks!

    ReplyDelete
  6. This is so very nice.. I make cucumber, hot pepper & crushed peanuts but never this way... all your recipes are sooo good & soo doable anytime

    ReplyDelete
  7. Fantastic! That salad looks so fresh and flavorful! I'll eat anything with peanut dressing ;-P!

    Cheers,

    Rosa

    ReplyDelete
  8. wow, this sounds amazing, especially the peanut dressing!

    ReplyDelete
  9. How is that I don't have that cookbook? I love salads like that. So refreshing with all of those wonderful flavors and textures.

    ReplyDelete
  10. your pict so beautiful, Lisa. I didn't know that you like chili too.. woow.. that's hot chili..

    ReplyDelete
  11. The title and the photo get me. I know I will love this salad!

    ReplyDelete
  12. This salad is beautiful! I know you served it with seafood, but could you imagine how great it would be with grilled shrimp on top?! Yum!

    ReplyDelete
  13. I just had myself a cucumber salad for dinner. Nothing fancy on mine. Your trumps it hands down. ;-)

    ReplyDelete
  14. Gorgeous as usual! I am adding this to the growing list of bookmarks of your recipes I want to make!

    ReplyDelete
  15. Mmm, I love all the flavors of this salad. What a great alternative to papaya salad!

    ReplyDelete
  16. spicy salad and spicy fish dish!!! pass me a glass of water please!

    ReplyDelete
  17. Your salad looks very colorful but I may not be able to take so spicy. but it's surely will increase your appetite and stimulate your palate.

    ReplyDelete
  18. this recipe looks fantastic - love cucumbers and of course the peppers are calling my name - awesome!

    ReplyDelete
  19. that's a unique and completely lovely salad, lisa. if i had the patience to cut my veggies into matchsticks, i'd do it all the time. :) alas, it's a virtue i don't have...

    ReplyDelete
  20. Delightful salad, love the idea of the roasted peanut dressing!

    ReplyDelete
  21. The salad looks so beautiful, fresh, appetizing, and healthy. Look at all the flavors and textures you got going here. Brilliant.

    ReplyDelete
  22. Beautiful salad, love the idea of the peanut dressing!

    ReplyDelete
  23. Your Thai salad sounds delicious even though the red chiles kinda scare me a little. How hot was their level of heat?

    ReplyDelete
  24. Jackie: These were actually mild chiles. They're not nearly as potent as they look. The flavor of the salad was all the fresh, crunchy vegetables, lime juice, and peanuts.

    ReplyDelete
  25. This is a great looking salad, Lisa! I love all the colors. I bet it was nice, crunchy and flavorful!

    ReplyDelete
  26. This is a great looking salad--with grilled tofu it could be a full meal.

    ReplyDelete
  27. I love this salad - especially the dressing! Looks very fresh!

    ReplyDelete
  28. Looks like a really crispy and refreshing salad, so perfect for this hot weather!

    ReplyDelete
  29. looks mighty tasty! A must make! love the dressind lisa!

    ReplyDelete
  30. Wow the salad looks so colorful and fulfilling, perfect blend of flavors

    ReplyDelete
  31. Looks good! I really like using peanuts in salads like this.

    ReplyDelete
  32. Glad I read Jackie's comment and your response! I was going to remark that you certainly like some heat to what looks like a cool, refreshing salad. 8-) I might've stopped at the cukes and red bell peppers but the addition of green beans and bean sprouts sound excellent. And the dressing sounds simply delicious - do think a tad bit of sesame oil might add something to it?

    ReplyDelete
  33. Hoo-Rah! My kind of salad...love the red addition of color...

    Why I am doing this to myself at dinner time I do not know...its Tuesday...we eat leftovers on Tuesday :(

    ReplyDelete
  34. I love Asian salads like this with the crunch of peanuts and tang of fresh lime juice. It's the perfect dish for summer.

    ReplyDelete

Blogging tips