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
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.
Featuring all new, protein-packed salads, hearty toppers, flavour boosters, and dressings you'll want to drink, my new cookbook will transform the way you think about salads. Oh, and be sure to flip to the back for a surprise dessert chapter!
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.
This is one of the best things I have ever had to eat. Thank you!
We omitted the cabbage and halved the amount of water in the dressing, but otherwise followed the recipe exactly.
I made this last night and WOW, it is so good! The dressing is delicious, amazing flavor. I added in a little Sriricha for heat. I substituted Tuscan kale for the cabbage and I put lima beans in instead of edamame (it was just what I had). I also added in a bunch of chopped cilantro and some chopped cashews to get more of those thai flavors. It was amazing! Definitely recommend adding in the cilantro if you like that flavor. Thanks for the recipe, I’ll be eating this for a while – it travels great!
Hi, just recently found your blog. This salad was fantastic. We left the sweetener out of the dressing and loved it. Thanks!
Your blog, all your hard work and delicious recipes have inspired me to “go vegan”. It has been a tasty and easy transition thanks to your inspiring recipes! This one is no exception. From a long-ish time reader but first-time commenter. A belated thanks for all the yummy food you have helped deliver to my kitchen!
Hey Christie, I’m so happy to hear this! Congrats and thanks for reading :)
I made this wonderful “salad” tonight, tripling the recipe for a potluck I was attending. Only problem is I was off by two days. Now, what do I do with lots and lots of raw pad thai? I will be eating it for every meal, but that’s okay because it is soooo yummy! I imagine the dressing having many uses.
My DH and I loved this dish. We had to go old-school with a mandolin, but it turned out well anyway! I used natural peanut butter. My cells rejoiced:-)
Totally gorgeous, can’t wait to try it. If I’m feeling wild, I may even try it with rice noodles :)
I made this today, with some adaptations and it was fantastic. Your sauce was amazing. This is going in the rotation, for sure!
I’m eating this right now and it IS rad! Thanks for sharing!
Angela, you totally outdid yourself on this one! I just about died and went to heaven while eating it! The tastes were so complex and outstanding, and if you savored it(which i tried to do) you could pull out each and every flavor! I found that I am not a huge edamame fan, but it was delicious without it, and because I love cilantro, I had to add a large handful! :)
This was so great! Thanks to your recipes my food processor is getting ample use! My 13-month-old baby girl ate this pad thai tonight and couldn’t get enough. She’s your Creamy Avocado Pasta’s biggest fan too.
So delish! obviously I had to double the recipe seeing as my spiralizer came in the mail just this morning and I can’t stop!
Girl, YOU are a rockstar! These recipes look beautiful and I can’t wait to try this Rad Rainbow Raw Pad Thai!!! And I don’t even like Thai food :)! Keep doing your much-needed work in the kitchen.
Warm Regards,
Heather
Yum, I just made this for dinner, it was excellent!!!
This inspired me to buy a spiralizer and a julienne peeler. So worth it to eat a bowl of raw veggies and get my kids to eat them, too. The dressing is PERFECT and I think it’s going to be my new go to peanut sauce recipe
Hubby and I made this last night -Spiralizer and all! – and it is just fantastic. Galangal is an excellent Thai root, similar to ginger, and would be fabulous in this if you can find it. We also could not find hemp seeds anywhere and resorted to chia seeds instead. Can you recommend a good substitute for hemp seeds, or perhaps recommend a place to find them? I’m in Atlanta but am happy to mail order.
Thanks for this excellent recipe, and too many others to name. This has become my go-to website when we’re looking to bring something new into the kitchen.
You can find hemp seeds on Amazon and also VitaCost
This is PHENOMENAL!!!!!! made this last night for my hubby and me and my parents, and it was a huge hit for all four of us! Having it again today as leftovers. So excited!!
I made this last night and added soba noodles! Such a refreshing change from my everyday garden salad!!!
That dressing is INCREDIBLE!!! I just wanted to drink it. Adding that gorgeous salad to it was the better thing to do. All of the vibrant colors and flavors married so well. Great reason to pull out my spiralizer. Usually, I’m too lazy to make a dressing -this dressing was soooo worth it & it helped me remember why I ever started making homemade dressings in the first place. Even my husband agreed to the amazingness of this dish. THANK YOU! :)
This was really wonderful. So beautiful to look at, too.