Fresh Thai Non-noodle Salad

As I said in my last post, I have been "inspiralized" lately and am in love with my Spiralizer.  If you don't know what one of these is....this is it.

And this....is what it does.

Basically, a Spiralizer is a tool that can be used to turn fresh vegetables into noodles.  Most come with an assortment of blades which allow you to make different sizes of noodles, from spaghetti to linguine really.

The trend started with the carb adverse (which I am not) then those of us looking for a way to get more vegetables into our diets discovered them. Now its become a real trend in restaurants who will spiralize anything from rutabega to beets to sweet potatoes in dishes.  They are a great substitute for those who cannot tolerate gluten also.

Check out this cool take on Chicken Parmesan with Rutabega Noodles at the Inspiralizer site.  I think this looks amazing.

Right now, my favourite thing to spiralize is zucchini and cucumbers. The combination together is actually really nice and fresh. But I have done carrot and sweet potato noodles with some success. What I am really trying to do is get more raw into my diet. And those other more starchy noodles do require some cooking. Zucchini and cucumber...nope. But I will say this really works best with English cucumbers and not field cucumbers. The centre section with seeds really impairs the ability of the machine to do its work, and the centre is the softest part making it impossible for any noodle to come out in the right shape.

So a few weeks ago, I had lunch at Cruda Cafe and ate this....its their vegan raw Pad Thai.  Honestly, it was ok.  It definitely needed salt and the sauce was lacking in flavour. It just lacked that saltiness that Thai fish sauce brings.

My friend Julie, who is a vegan, gave me the idea of using miso so Ii am going to give that a shot later, but for now...here is my non-vegan (due to the Thai fish sauce) improved version of Cruda's Raw Pad Thai.

Fresh Thai Non-noodle Salad

(Serves 3-4 as a side dish)

What you need:

Salad:

1 medium sized zucchini

1/2 English cucumber
1/3 red pepper, thinly sliced

1/4 cup of cilantro

1/4 cup of cashews for garnish

Sauce:

4 tbsp almond or cashew butter
2 tbsp rice wine vinegar
1 tbsp fish sauce
1 tsp Sriracha sauce
2 tsp coconut aminos or soy sauce
1 tsp ginger, fresh
1 tsp garlic
Juice of half a lime

What to do:

First...spiralize your vegetables....  Using the spaghetti setting or blade on your machine, run your cucumber and zucchini through it, one at a time, combining both in a large bowl.

Next, make your sauce.  Combine all sauce ingredients in a food processor or blender.
If you like, double the recipe because this will keep well in the fridge and can be tossed with many different vegetable combinations or be used as a dipping sauce for fresh spring rolls.

Add 3 to 4 tablespoons of the sauce to your noodles and toss. Sprinkle with cilantro and cashews and serve!