Thursday, June 25, 2009

Quick and Easy Peanut Vinaigrette

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Quick and Easy Peanut Vinaigrette
Guest Writer: Alice from Savory Sweet Life

When Danica from Danica’s Daily asked me to guest post on her blog while she was on vacation, I thought “Why not?” I like Danica a lot and she has been a loyal and supportive follower of Savory Sweet Life. Reading her adventures of healthy eating is inspiring not only to me, but I’m sure to everyone else who reads her blog. My only dilemma was trying to figure out what type of recipe to post about. Even though she did give me an “out” by saying I could write about anything, I really wanted to come up with something that wouldn’t make anyone fall off the bandwagon. Lets just say I am no stranger to sugar, white flour, butter, and heavy cream. So instead I created a really wonderful salad Thai inspired vinaigrette.

I tried very hard to make it healthy. I’m not sure how many Weight Watchers points the vinaigrette is, but my gut instinct still screams “it’s healthy!” So I’m going to just trust Danica to answer any questions about the nutritional break down.

I love Thai peanut sauce. In fact I have an awesome recipe for coconut peanut sauce on Savory Sweet Life but it wouldn’t work very well for salad. Not only that, I wanted to create a vinaigrette with ingredients easily found in a supermarket. What I present to you is a peanut vinaigrette worthy of any salad. This dressing is not only quick and easy, it is incredibly delicious. Enjoy!

*By using a hand blender (or blender) it can be made within a few minutes. If you don’t have a blender, don’t panic. You can just whisk everything together and microwave the peanut butter for 30 seconds to soften it up. But I will say, a hand blender is a cook’s best friend.

Quick and Easy Peanut Vinaigrette Recipe
Makes 1 cup

Ingredients:
¼ cup water
¼ cup rice vinegar
¼ cup of canola oil
2 Tbl. of sugar or splenda equivalent
4 Tbl. of creamy peanut butter
1 Tbl. of soy sauce (I used low-sodium)
1 tsp. Sesame oil
¼ tsp. Ground cumin
Pinch of red pepper flakes
*For more heat, add ¼ tsp. Red pepper flakes
*If you are a cilantro lover, add 3 Tbls. Of cilantro leaves

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Directions:
Add all the ingredients in a medium bowl. Using a hand blender, mix everything until well incorporated (approx. 30 seconds). If mixing by hand, whisk everything until fully incorporated. See notation above regarding microwaving peanut butter.

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Toss with your favorite salad. Enjoy!

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8 comments:

  1. i do love a good peanut anything, thanks for sharing!

    danice i hop you are having a blasty on your vacay and are feeling better! xo

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  2. This sounds great! Do you think it would also work with almonds? (our school is a peanut free campus and I bring my lunches)

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  3. Yum. This looks really good. I've bookmarked it for future refence!

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  4. Janetha ~ I was pretty much sick all vacation (and still am - boo!) but it was STILL a blast :)

    C.G. ~ Hmmm, I'd be curious to know. I bet it would still taste fantastic. I cannot wait to try this - it looks and sounds amazing.

    Kirwin ~ do tell if you try it out, I know I have to! Alice's recipes always look amazing!

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  5. Alice ~ thanks for the delicious recipe - I LOVE peanutty dressings and definitely need to make this now :) Your pictures always look so incredible and it makes me want to try everything you make :)

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  6. It's just as good without the water, canola oil and sugar. Let the main ingredients speak for themselves :)

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  7. Anonymous ~ that is great to know another way to make Alice's recipe - thanks for the feedback!

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  8. This is incredible with teriyaki chicken thighs. I have made it several times and make disturbing noises with every bite. It's that good. I add a bit more peanut butter than the recipe calls for. Thank you so much for the recipe.

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