Cashew Thai Quinoa Salad, Crunchy Style

Craving a healthy, colorful, crunchy and most importantly flavor-packed salad?

Ive got you.

I first made this well-seasoned salad in 2013. Back then I was a contributor to The Pioneer Woman’s recipe sharing site Flavorful Kitchen. TK is where a lot of us OG food bloggers would go to share our recipes in hopes to get featured on the TK homepage. As a contributor, I could cherrypick recipes to share and then photograph them step-by-step for the blog section of the website. It was a fun gig.

This crunchy cashew Thai quinoa salad was one of those recipes. It truly won me over the moment it graced my computer screen. Since those TK days I’ve made this salad dozens of times, and with it a few subtle (and I mean subtle) changes to this method.

It still remains one of my favorites to this day.

To cook this Crunchy Cashew Thai Quinoa Salad Gather:

for the peanut dressing:

• peanut butter – Cashew butter can also be used.
• ginger – Pungent, spicy, and sweet. There’s no need to peel ginger first, simple grate on a microplane
• garlic – This adds distinct and punchy flavor.
• coconut aminos – A healthy alternative to soy sauce.
• red wine vinegar – Adds tang and acidity.
• toasted sesame oil – Lends a rich, earthy and nutty flavor.

for the salad:

• quinoa – High in fiber, plus several vitamins and minerals like magnesium, potassium, iron, fiber, and folate.
• cabbage – Lends a pop of color and savory crunch!
• red and yellow bell pepper – Add sweetness, crunch and color.
• carrot – I like to save time and use pre-shredded but you can also grate carrot on the large holes of your box grater.
• cilantro – Lends fresh, citrusy (and to some a soapy) flavor.
• cashew pieces and halves – Adds a rich nutty flavor.
• green onions – For a mild onion flavor.
• lime – Adds citrusy notes and will enhance the flavors in the salad.

Place the quinoa in a mesh strainer and rinse under cool water. Transfer to a sauce pan and add the water and bring to a boil. Once boiling, cover reduce heat to low and simmer for 15 minutes. Then remove from the heat, fluff with a fork and transfer to a large bowl.

Need a visual? Click Here for my step-by-step post for making perfectly cooke quinoa.

Meanwhile, make the dressing. In a small bowl, measure and add 1/4 cup peanut butter, 1 tablespoon honey, 2 teaspoons grated fresh ginger, 1 teaspoon grated fresh garlic, 3 tablespoons coconut aminos, 1 tablespoon red wine vinegar and 2 teaspoons toasted sesame oil.

WHAT IS COCONUT AMINOS?

Coconut aminos is a savory and salty sauce made from the fermented sap of coconut palm and sea salt, yet it does not taste like coconut at all. Its consistency and deeply brown color is similar to soy sauce. It’s also happens to be soy, gluten and wheat-free too. With that said, coconut aminos is a healthy substitute for those with a restrictive diet.

Whisk well to combine. If the dressing seems to be too thick, it can be thinned out with water.

Toss half of the dressing with the quinoa.

Next add in 1 cup shredded cabbage, 1/4 cup each diced red and yellow bell pepper, 1/2 cup red onion, 1/2 cup shredded carrot, 1/2 cup chopped cilantro, 1/2 cup cashew pieces and 4 sliced green onions.

Squeeze in the juice of 1/2 a lime.

And season with kosher salt to taste.

Adding more dressing as desired.

This salad is completely flavor-packed served right away at room temperature. The flavors are dependable, crunchy factor is striking and it’s healthy yet completely satisfying. Worth keeping the rainbow of veggies and the protein and fiber from the quinoa keeps me full. And the simple ginger peanut dressing is out of this world *chefs kiss*.

If stored in a container with a tight fitting lid and stored in the refrigerator, this salad will keep for for 3 to 5 days.

Store the salad and cashews separately and simply toss together when ready to eat. Otherwise they tend to lose their crunch over time as they sit in the dressing.

Enjoy! And if you give this Crunchy Cashew Thai Quinoa Salad recipe a try, let me know! Snap a photo and tag me on twitter or instagram!

This dish is lovingly and only slightly adapted from Ambitious Kitchen.