That's Slaw Folks!

Yesterday, I wrote about salads. I could spend a lifetime writing new combination of unique dressings and fresh veggies. My favorite thing about salad is how versatile it is. All you need are a few simple ingredients to make it absolutely perfect. So, I thought I'd share a fantastic dressing and a few unique uses for it.


Ginger Chili Cashew Butter Sauce

1/4 c. cashew butter (any nut butter will work; try sunflower seed butter for a more "allergy friendly" version)
2 Tbsp. natural apricot preserves (anything would do, but I like the color and sweet/tartness of apricot)
1 Tbsp. liquid amino acids (or gluten free, low sodium soy sauce or tamari)
1 tsp. sriracha (add more or less depending on your tolerance for heat)
1 Tbsp. grated fresh ginger
1 Tbsp. minced fresh garlic

1. Blend all ingredients together until they are smooth and well combined.

2. Add a bit of water to thin it to a pourable consistency.

3. Taste the sauce to make sure all of the flavors are balanced. There shouldn't be one flavor that is stronger than the others.

This sauce is so amazing! I love to use it as a dipping sauce for vegetable spring rolls. These spring rolls are simply rice paper rolls with leaf lettuce, shredded cabbage, shredded carrots, julienne cucumbers, julienne red pepper, fresh mint and basil leaves. I also like to dip carrot sticks and sugar snap peas in it. It can be used as a salad dressing with fresh greens or as a massaged kale salad.

I use this sauce to make a simple "Cheaters Pad Thai." When I have leftover spaghetti noodles, I quickly toss them with leftover veggies or rainbow slaw mix. Saute in a pan for just a minute with 1 tsp. toasted sesame oil. When the veggies are crisp tender, pour over your Ginger Chili Cashew Butter Sauce. Garnish with toasted sesame seeds and snipped fresh chives or green onions. It's so good!

This also makes an excellent marinade for tofu. Tofu is fantastic because it pretty much tastes like whatever you put with it. If you don't do anything with it, it is bland and tasteless; but if you have a fantastic sauce like this, the results will be surprisingly good. I make up a  big bunch and keep it on hand when I need a quick tasty protein source. Just bake this in the oven at 300 degrees F for 45 minutes to an hour. These are wonderful on rice, in lettuce wraps and even rolled into sushi.

This is only a handful of ideas for you. Once you make this sauce, you will be compelled to put it on everything! But spring is sprung, so I thought I would make one more suggestion that is more picnic friendly. Packing up a simple picnic is the norm in my house. That's why I like to keep this fresh, healthy Asian Slaw on hand. Just add 2 Tbsp. raw apple cider vinegar and fresh snipped chives or green onions to the recipe for Ginger Chili Cashew Butter Sauce. Then I layer my slaw ingredients into a container, keeping the sauce separate. This is shredded red cabbage, shredded carrots, shredded broccoli stems, red pepper, cilantro, and sunflower shoots. This is both hearty and refreshing, cool and creamy, spicy and sweet. It's pretty much a perfect slaw!

I love my salad shaker!








Not a bad afternoon snack?! Try this with the marinated tofu. The flavors are a perfect match and you get a little extra protein.







Note: At some point, I will make a post on how to make your own nut and seed butters. It's easy and will save you a ton of money. But this sauce is so versatile, just use whatever you have on hand or whatever you like the most. Most of my recipes are what I call "bare bones" recipes. Use them as they are or play around with them.

So that's slaw folks!

Peace!
 - Ali