Bean Sprouts and Broccoli Slaw Salad with Coconut-Ginger Dressing

The dipping sauce for the Miang Kum Rolls was still on my mind yesterday morning when I needed to throw together a couple of quick dishes for a potluck lunch. I’d decided to make the Thai-Style Vegetable Curry that I’d made the very first week of this blog; we’d loved it and planned to have it again, but the problem with writing a food blog is that you need to be cooking new dishes constantly so you have something to write about. Yesterday’s potluck was a good excuse to make a dish that had already been tried and loved.

But it was also a good chance to try something new. I had a bag of mung bean sprouts that I needed to use before they went bad and an idea for the dressing. I decided to throw in some packaged broccoli slaw and sliced red pepper to create another delicious Thai-inspired dish:

Bean Sprouts and Broccoli Slaw Salad with Coconut-Ginger Dressing

Sauce:
1/4 cup plus one tablespoon toasted coconut (reserve 1 tbsp. for garnish)
1 tablespoon peeled and coarsely chopped ginger
1 tablespoon chopped green onion (shallots may also be used)
1 teaspoon light-colored miso
1/3 cup vegetable broth
1/8 cup seasoned rice vinegar
1/4 cup dark vegan sugar (palm sugar, if available, but both turbinado and demerara work well)
1/4 teaspoon tamarind concentrate (or 1/8 cup tamarind liquid)
2 teaspoons soy sauce

Salad:
4 cups mung bean sprouts
4 cups broccoli slaw (shredded broccoli stems, cabbage, and carrots)
1/2 cup slivered red bell pepper

Toast the coconut and set one tablespoon of it aside. Place the other 1/4 cup of toasted coconut into the blender along with the other sauce ingredients. Blend until relatively smooth, scraping the sides of the blender as needed.

Bring a large pot of water to boil; once it’s boiling, add the mung bean spouts, cover, and cook for 2 minutes after the water returns to a boil. Drain them immediately in a colander and rinse with cold water. Shake them dry.

Combine the sprouts, broccoli slaw, and red pepper in a large bowl and toss with the dressing. Refrigerate until ready to serve (the longer, the more flavorful). Garnish with reserved coconut just before serving.

This seems to have been a big hit at the potluck. It and the Thai curry were completely devoured (damn–no leftovers!) My husband said that both dishes received a lot of compliments. Unfortunately, I didn’t get to hear them: While running back and forth to the car to bring in all the food, I twisted my ankle badly and spent the whole lunch elevating my foot and icing my ankle. I will be doing much of my cooking sitting down for the next few days!

Since it seems to fit the category well, this recipe is my entry in Sweetnicks’ ARF (Antioxidant Rich Food) 5-A-Day Tuesday event. Check out all the other healthy entries!

Tags: vegan recipes vegetarian cooking food fat-free ARF/5-A-Day

Tagged as: gluten-free