Every fork full of this Asian Ribbon Salad has something delicious to offer! Ribbons of crunchy rainbow carrots, refreshing cucumber, nutty peanuts, and sweet and sour sesame-soy dressing! What’s not to love?
Asian Ribbon Salad: A Healthy Vegetarian Dish
Hello, SoFabFood audience! I’m happy and so excited to be sharing a recipe with you again! Today’s recipe is one of my favorite food groups to eat and to write about; salads! I can eat salad for all three meals of the day. In my honest opinion, salads are the most convenient and delicious way to stay close to a natural, plant-based diet.
A healthy salad is always my first choice to serve on the side with grilled meats or veggie proteins. A side salad not only brightens up the plate, but also makes for a balanced and filling meal. Worth a mention, a colorful salad like this Asian Ribbon Salad can brighten up any party buffet table! Don’t you think? When I host a party, or if I have a few friends invited for dinner, my first thought is to quickly prepare a salad and then I’m busy the rest of the day (almost) preparing entrées and appetizers. As a side note, the “whole day” thing is because I’m sort of a foodie who often plans elaborate dinner menus including a few curries, meat roasts, fresh breads, and of course, salads!
For this Asian Ribbon Salad, I start by whipping up the dressing, then chopping the salad ingredients. Refrigerate until ready to assemble. It’s as simple as that!
One pro tip I can share, never underestimate the power of a homemade dressing! They are:
- quick to make,
- can be easily lightened up unlike store-bought dressings,
- are easy to portion control. In other words, no more half-open bottles of dressing hanging in the refrigerator, and you can make a large batch if you’re hosting a large group for dinner.
Honestly, in my kitchen, my salad dressings are often marinades for meats and chicken as well. This Sesame-Soy Dressing is perfect for making slow cooker soy chicken! Just toss the boneless chicken and dressing in your slow cooker and simmer until the chicken is fully cooked. Voila! Dinner is ready!
To keep this salad healthy and low in sodium, I have used low-sodium soy sauce and agave syrup instead of sugar. This ribbon salad is vegan and can be gluten free. If you use Tamari Soy Sauce, which is a gluten-free soy sauce, then this salad is completely gluten free.
I’m certain you have seen a lot of Asian ribbon salads made with cucumber all over the internet, but I wanted to make this salad a little more robust, more colorful, and healthier. I chose rainbow carrots, summer squash, hothouse cucumber, and shaved scallions (green onions). Some toasted peanuts added the texture and my salad was ready to rock!
I hope you will enjoy it as much as I did!
- Salad:
- 2 Summer Squash
- 3 Rainbow Carrots
- 1 Hothouse Cucumber
- 4-5 Scallions
- ½ Cup Toasted Peanuts
- 1 tbsp Sesame Seeds
- Dressing:
- 2 tbsp Low Sodium Soy Sauce
- 1 tsp Lite Sesame Oil
- 1 tbsp Olive Oil
- 1 tbsp Agave Syrup
- 1 tbsp Rice Vinegar (unseasoned)
- ¼ tsp Chili Flakes
- 1 inch grated Ginger
- salt (if needed, to taste)
- In a salad bowl, add all dressing ingredients and whisk well to emulsify. Set aside.
- Peel and slice all veggies to thin ribbons using Madeleine or peeler. (I often use a peeler). Also, slice white of green onions into thin sticks and cut green part on a bias.
- Add to salad bowl with dressing. Toss to coat everything in dressing.
- Top with sesame seeds and toasted peanuts.
- Serve immediately and enjoy!
We hope you love this Asian Ribbon Salad recipe from SoFabFood Contributor, Savita from Chef de Home, as much as we do. If you enjoyed this delightful summer salad recipe, be sure to visit our Salad Section for more like it. Don’t forget to subscribe to our newsletter so you never miss a single recipe. For daily recipe inspiration, like us on Facebook, follow us on Pinterest, and stop by our Google+ Community to see all of the amazing recipes our community members are sharing. Enjoy!
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