I’m all about that rainbow salad life this summer!
In all honesty though, Mark and I aren’t the most creative when it comes to making dinner. We usually have 3-4 dinners that we’re absolutely obsessed with, so we make them non-stop for a month or two until we can’t think of the words “black beans and rice” without groaning in unison.
It’s annoying as heck, but I always find myself gravitating towards my “pantry” staples whenever I’m at the store, so we’re never really forced to jazz it up and try something new.
My goal for our new place is that we have options and try to break out of our dinner rut shell a bit. Buy something different at the store every time we go. Look at the endless list of food blogs I follow and actually make something from them, rather than just drooling from afar.
Or reimagine some of our favorites and give them a…delicious face-lift.
{That was a weird phrase.}
But that’s where this Thai Peanut Quinoa Rainbow Salad comes in. I used my Thai Peanut Sauce recipe (that, admittedly, Mark & I could drink), and repurposed it with all of the fresh summer produce in mind.
Let’s break it down. This salad is made up of three parts:
- quinoa: use your favorite kind, but to give this salad even more color, I opted for the tri-colored version (which I buy at Trader Joe’s). I also enjoy this version because it has a bit more bite than the all-white stuff.
- veggies: we’re literally using all the veggies here, and I’m totally OK with that. Yellow squash! Red peppers! Purple cabbage! Green onions! The gang’s all here! What’s ridiculously awesome about this salad is that it’s merely a base upon which you can create your own veggie-centric masterpiece. Lucky enough to have a garden overflowing with summer veggie magic? This salad is the perfect place to use it!
- thai peanut sauce: aka. my one true food love. I am so obsessed with this sauce. It’s perfectly creamy, a little sweet, a little spicy, and delicious on just about anything. Especially this salad. With all of the textures and flavors of all the different veggies here, it’s just about by-gosh perfect. Taste and see, friends.
Best part (besides the amazing peanut sauce)? This salad is perfect at any temperature. I mean, don’t freeze it, okay? But it can really be eaten hot, at room temperature, or straight from the fridge. Hello, work/school leftovers!
I seriously hope you make this, friends! And, if you do, you should show me on social media! Tag me (@fooduzzi) and use the fooduzzi hashtag (#fooduzzi) so I can see your beautiful creations! I LOVE looking at your insanely delicious baking and cooking skills!
PrintThai Peanut Quinoa Rainbow Salad
- Prep Time: 5 mins
- Cook Time: 10 mins
- Total Time: 15 mins
- Yield: 4 servings
Ingredients
FOR THE SALAD:
- 1 cup uncooked quinoa
- 1 Tbsp. olive oil
- 1 yellow squash, cut into bite-sized pieces
- 1 red bell pepper, cut into thin strips
- salt + pepper
- 2 cups shredded purple cabbage
- 2 green onions, chopped
- 1 handful cilantro, roughly chopped
FOR THE DRESSING:
- 1/4 cup peanut butter
- 1 and 1/4 tsp. pressed/grated garlic
- 1 and 1/2 tsp. freshly grated ginger*
- 2 and 1/2 tsp. Tamari/liquid aminos/gluten free soy sauce
- 1 tsp.+ Sriracha
- 1 tsp.+ honey/maple syrup for vegans
- hot water, as needed
Instructions
- Cook your quinoa according to package directions.
- Meanwhile, add olive oil to a medium skillet over medium-high heat. Add squash and pepper, season with salt and pepper, and sauté until browned, 8-10 minutes.
- While the quinoa and veggies are cooking, make your sauce. Mix peanut butter, garlic, ginger, Tamari, Sriracha, and honey/maple syrup to a small bowl. Slowly add some hot water to thin, and mix to combine. You’ll want the sauce pourable, but not overly watery. Use your judgement here. Taste, and adjust as needed.
- Add cabbage to a large bowl. Pour the hot, cooked quinoa on top so it slightly wilts the cabbage. Season with salt and pepper. Add sautéed squash and pepper on top. Top with green onions and cilantro.
- Pour sauce over the salad, and mix to coat. Enjoy hot or cold.
Notes
*We like to keep our ginger in the freezer to preserve it’s freshness. We grate it right out of the freezer!
Sauce taken from my Thai Peanut Burrito Bowls.
Omg I know what you mean about being able to drink the peanut sauce…I’m OBSESSED! Love that you can serve this salad hot or cold, but NOT frozen. Noted! ;)
We also tend to eat the same 5-6 meals every week.. which is kind of funny isn’t it? I’m hoping that changes once I don’t have quite as many jobs, but I’m thinking we need to add something like this into our rotation. We eat quinoa weekly anyway, so might as well add peanut sauce to it and call it dinner, right? PS good luck with the move!
Oh YUM! Anything with thai peanut sauce = I’m in. So beautiful, too!! Pinning and hoping to make soon!!
Gimme ALL the rainbow salads! This is perfect lunch food— definitely going to add this into my rotation for weekday lunches :)
Anything with peanut sauce I LOVE! Seriously my fave. I love quinoa salads. This looks so yummy and fresh!
So many pretty colours! I get really stuck in a rut making the same recipes again and again. But if I’m gonna branch out and try something new, this looks like a good start!
Ahhh this looks so good! I love anything Thai and probably don’t have it in rotation enough. I need to start getting into new meals and flavors too! I am feeling stuck this week.
This looks so gorgeous! I’m in a quinoa phase right now so I’m going to have to try this out!
I love tri-color quinoa from TJ. And this salad is looking amazing!! Thanks for the inspiration! I need to restock on quinoa to make this salad!! And just another reason to head to Trader Joe right?
Same here! I’m not a huge fan of white quinoa, but the mix of all three gives it a great bite and flavor! I hope you get a chance to try this out! :)
The peanut sauce is delicious
:) I’m so happy you liked it! It’s one of our most-made recipes!
That was delicious….quick and easy!!
:) That makes me so happy. I’m so glad you enjoyed it!
Just made the Thai Quinoa Thai veggie dish and added coconut milk to the peanut sauce instead of water and roasted my veg turned out amazing. Thank you :)
LOVE that idea! I’ll have to do that next time I make this sauce :)
This is my favorite pita filling for take along food while hiking. Yum!
YUM! Love that idea.
Wow!! You were not kidding, delicious is an understatement!! One of our new favorites. I have already made it twice in the last 10 days!! Thank you!!