Say this recipe title 10 times fast and…you WIN!
Happiness and energy in a bowl. What more could you want on a Monday?
If I could summarize in a single recipe what a healthy vegan diet means to me, this bowl might just be it. It’s fresh, crisp, vibrant and heavy on the veggies with plant-based proteins throughout and a creamy and indulgent almond butter dressing. In other words – the perfect balance of this-tastes-freakin-amazing and this-makes-me-feel-freakin-amazing. I was bouncing off the walls with energy after I ate this….actually I still am. I swear it has nothing to do with overnight coffee concentrate.
Ok, maybe a little.
I know we’re only 1 week into summer, but this might just be my favourite salad of summer 2013. We’ll have to see if I can top this bad boy.
This salad is inspired by a raw Pad Thai dish I enjoyed at a restaurant called Marbles in Waterloo with my buddy Ange a couple years ago. I ended up recreating the recipe shortly after our visit, but I used glass noodles and I just wasn’t a fan. I don’t usually have texture issues with food, but those noodles were way out of my comfort zone. It’s strange because I’ve enjoyed them before in a couple restaurant dishes, but for some reason when I try them at home it’s creepville. Anyway, I decided to dig out this recipe again, this time using raw zucchini noodles. A very good decision, indeed. No creep factor. All goodness!
I decided to purchase a Veggie Spiralizer several months ago. This hand-powered device turns zucchini into a huge pile of cascading noodles in less than 1 minute flat. The device itself is quite small and compact, not taking up much room to store (which was my main concern) and it’s extremely light weight. The downside to this spiralizer is that it’s plastic and to be quite frank, it feels pretty cheap. However, I didn’t know how much I would use it so I went for one of the cheaper spiralizers on the market which only set me back about $25-30. It comes with a few different blades so you can make ribbons and what not, but I haven’t ventured that far yet. I like that there is very little waste leftover and the noodles aren’t as watery compared to using the hand peeler. Either way, you can use a julienne peeler (or a Y peeler to make ribbons) or a spiralizer for this recipe today. If you really wanted to, you could chop everything by hand the old fashioned way!
The almond butter sauce I made is very light – using only 1/2 tablespoon of oil – but it’s still creamy and indulgent at the same time. It makes just under 2/3 cup and I found it was the perfect amount for 2 large salads. We sure didn’t have any dressing leftover.
Rad Rainbow Raw Pad Thai
Yield
2 large servings plus scant 2/3 cup dressing
Prep time
Cook time
0 minutes
Total time
Ingredients
- 1 medium zucchini, julienned or spiraled
- 2 large carrots, julienned
- 1 red pepper, thinly sliced
- 1 cup thinly sliced red cabbage
- 3/4 cup frozen edamame, thawed (or try tofu)
- 3 green onions, thinly sliced
- 1 tablespoon hemp seeds
- 1 teaspoon sesame seeds
For the dressing
- 1 garlic clove
- 1/4 cup raw almond butter (or try peanut butter)
- 2 tablespoons fresh lime juice
- 2 tablespoons low-sodium tamari
- 2 tablespoons water
- 2.5 teaspoons pure maple syrup (or other sweetener)
- 1/2 tablespoon toasted sesame oil
- 1 teaspoon freshly grated ginger
Directions
- Prep vegetables. Add the zucchini, carrots, pepper, and cabbage into one or two large bowls. Toss with hands to combine.
- Prepare the dressing by processing all dressing ingredients in a mini processor (or simply whisk by hand). The dressing may seem a bit thin at first, but it thickens as it sits.
- Top bowls with edamame (or tofu), green onion, hemp seeds, and sesame seeds. Pour on dressing and enjoy!
Nutrition Information
(click to expand)~~~~~~
Last but certainly not least, Happy Canada Day to my fellow Canadians! This post was supposed to be a red & white strawberries ‘n cream pie, but of course when you plan on a themed recipe working it rarely does. I’m sporting my red & white all day regardless. I hope you have a great holiday! Oh and happy (almost) 4th of July to those of you in the US.
Hi Angela,
This is off topic but I need your help.
I am flying this Saturday to travel to Wisconsin. I will be there ten days.
I want to make healthy bars/cookies/squares/balls (anything) that will hold up during the trip and does not need refrigeration.
I have a variety of flours I could use, dried cranberries, nuts, and natural sweeteners.
What recipes do you recommend?
Thanks!
Dara
Oh my goodness, I have never seen a spiralizer in action! This looks so great for those days when it’s just too hot.
Pad thai is one of my favorite dishes EVAH! Can’t wait to give this one a try :D
I made this last night for dinner, and it was delicious. I made two small changes to the sauce: I used chili oil instead of sesame oil (because, despite going to the grocery, I forgot to get any), and I added about 1/2 tsp of chili-garlic paste. It added some nice heat to the dish. This is definitely getting added to the regular meal rotation.
This is going on the meal plan today!
Hope things are a bit settled in your life now that your book is nearing completion/completed!
Your coffee concentrate definitely has me bouncing around! (I just finished an iced coffee with it actually ;) ).
This sounds absolutely amazing, Ange!! I just bought a really, really, REALLY cheap spiralizer (you put the zucchini in and twist it), and I am regretting that decision because I really want the one you have – cheap and all!
I actually am headed to my organic health food store today and I’m adding to the list more zucchini along with cabbage and peppers. This is the type of thing I need to balance the coffee ;) haha
This recipe looks totally awesome!!!!!
Visually Stunning! Sharing it on twitter right now!
Christine
What a beautiful salad! I love the ingredient list because it has stuff in it that I don’t eat often. Excited to make this!
This looks AMAZING – Can’t wait to make it this weekend! <3
I am so excited to make this salad! Also, your photography is GORGEOUS, it makes me even more excited for your cookbook!
Made this salad yesterday and had leftovers today and all I can say is DELICIOUS!!!!! Didn’t have any almond butter so used soaked dehydrated almonds and it turned out yummy:)
This recipe looks fantastic! Also, you are wonderful, Angela! My sister and I love your site. :)
Thank you Julia! :)
This looks amazing! I’ve got to go out tomorrow and get a julienne peeler! Do you think you can get them at most home stores?
Not sure – I’ve only seen them at Kitchen Stuff Plus but then again I havent looked that carefully other places. good luck!
I made this tonight and it was wonderful!! I subbed braggs for the tamari and did use some chunky peanut butter, oh and added cilantro. But that was it!! and yes, was delicious :)
Made this for dinner and it was amazing! I had to resist eating the entire bowl! I cannot wait to finish off the leftovers for lunch tomorrow. I will dream of raw pad thai tonight.
Oh my gosh, my boyfriend will LOVE this! He’s a huge Thai fan! Personally, I can’t handle too many spices and flavors, but this is light and refreshing!
i love love LOVE all the gorgeous colors in this salad! i’m not vegan but your recipes always look absolutely delicious :)
So…my husband can be weird about what’s a meal and what’s an appetizer and I knew if I served this to him raw, he’d think of it as an appetizer and not dinner. So I sauteed it for about three minutes until it was slightly wilted and warmed through, but barely cooked. Then I added the dressing. I had a bit of cooked quinoa in the fridge, so I put that in the bottom of the bowls, topped it with this, and it was incredibly delicious! Thanks, so much. I have another recipe that has 1/3 of a cup of sesame seeds and I added that much by accident, but it was great. Used smoked tofu, too. I’ll be making this again. Thanks!
Wow! This is such a beautiful salad and sounds so good.