Veggie Salad Bowl with Almond-Cilantro Dressing
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Serves: 3
 
A filling lunch or dinner salad loaded with veggies and dressed with creamy almond cilantro sesame dressing.
Ingredients
For the dressing:
  • ⅓ cup almond butter
  • 3 Tbsp. brown rice vinegar (or substitute white wine or champagne vinegar if you don't have that)
  • 2 Tbsp. maple syrup
  • 2 Tbsp. water
  • 1 Tbsp. tamari
  • 1-2 Tbsp. ginger root, peeled and minced
  • 1 tsp. dark sesame oil
  • ½ cup chopped cilantro
For the salad:
  • 5 cups broccoli (florets broken up, stems peeled and chopped, steamed)
  • 1¼ cup cooked green peas
  • 1 small baked kuri squash (about 1¾#) baked, cooled, skin removed, cubed.
  • 1½ cups cooked long or short grain brown rice.
  • salt to taste
Instructions
  1. For the dressing: Combine all ingredients in a high-powered blender such as a Vitamix, blend until smooth.
  2. For the salad: Cook brown rice in water on the stove or in a rice cooker. Rather than make only a tiny bit of rice I used a little over a cup of dry rice and had extra.
  3. Bake the squash at 350. I bake it for a short while until softened, then remove it from the oven, cut it in half, remove the seeds, and return it to the oven to finish baking. This has the disadvantage of handling the hot squash, but the advantage of not having to cut the very hard raw squash in half. Cook the squash until done, about 1 hour.
  4. Cook green peas in a pot with a small amount of water for several minutes until just done.
  5. Cut florets off broccoli, cut or break into small pieces. Peel broccoli stem and cut into small pieces. Steam broccoli florets and stem until tender but not overdone, about 7 or 8 minutes.
  6. Combine vegetables and dressing in a large bowl, mix. Salt to taste.
Recipe by Fit and Fed at http://fitandfed.net/2013/09/14/veggie-salad-bowl-almond-cilantro-dressing/