Thai Peanut Quinoa Salad

I made this dish last year, pre-Cooking in the Creek, so I decided I had to make it again to share with all of you! This is a great salad for dinner on a hot summer night. Everyone loves a good quinoa salad these days, and this one is great because it has so much flavor and crunch going on with the peanut ginger dressing and fresh veggies. It’s a great meal any day of the week, especially after a hot summer day when you don’t want to heat up the entire house by cooking a big meal in the kitchen. We had enough left over for lunch too!

Thai Peanut Quinoa Salad

Prep time: 20 minutes

Cook time: 20 minutes

Total time: 40 minutes

Yield: 4-6 servings

### Ingredients

*Salad*

3/4 cup uncooked quinoa, rinsed

1-2 cups red cabbage, shredded, depending on how much crunch you like 1 red bell pepper, diced

1/2 red onion, diced 1 cup carrots, shredded

1/2 cup cilantro, chopped

1/4 cup green onions, diced

1/2 cup unsalted dry roasted peanuts or cashews

*Optional*: 1 cup edamame or chickpeas *Toppings*: Fresh lime

*Dressing*

1/4 cup all natural peanut butter

2 teaspoons ginger, freshly grated 3 tablespoons soy sauce 1 tablespoon honey 1 tablespoon red wine vinegar 1 teaspoon sesame oil 1 teaspoon olive oil Water to thin, if necessary

### Instructions 1. To cook quinoa: Rinse quinoa with cold water in mesh strainer. In a medium saucepan, bring 1 ½ cups of water to a boil. Add in quinoa and bring mixture to a boil. Cover, reduce heat to low and let simmer for 15 minutes or until quinoa has absorbed all of the water. Remove from heat and fluff quinoa with fork; place in large bowl and set aside to cool for about 10 minutes. You should have a little over 2 cups of quinoa. (Alternatively, you can cook the quinoa in a rice cooker). 2. To make dressing: Add peanut butter and honey to a medium-sized microwave safe bowl; heat in microwave for 20 seconds. Add ginger, soy sauce, vinegar, and both sesame and olive oil and stir until mixture is smooth and creamy. If you want a thinner dressing, simply stir in a teaspoon or two of water or olive oil. 3. Add as much or as little dressing as you’d like to the quinoa. The flavors of the dressing usually soak into the salad so I added it to the quinoa first. 4. Next fold in red pepper, onion, cabbage, carrots, and cilantro into the quinoa. Garnish with peanuts, green onions and lime wedges. Serve chilled or at room temperature. Recipe inspired by [Ambitious Kitchen](http://www.ambitiouskitchen.com/2013/04/crunchy-cashew-thai-quinoa-salad-with-ginger-peanut-dressing/#comment-5123).