“One of our Midlife mantras is to embrace variety – and the sheer abundance of flavour, texture and colour here will clearly do wonders for you,” say cookbook writers Mimi Spencer and Sam Rice. “It’s a rainbow of raw excellence, brought together with a terrific tangy dressing guaranteed to transport you to a Koh Samui beach.
“You’ll need a bit of time to chop and slice, but otherwise it’s a doddle. Add cubes of tofu or cooked prawns for a more substantial meal.”
Chopping boards at the ready…
Raw pad Thai
Equipment
- Large bowl
- Jar
Ingredients
- 1 small carrot peeled and cut into thin strips, shaved or shredded
- 1 small courgette finely sliced or cut into thin strips
- 50 g red cabbage very thinly sliced
- 50 g sugar snap peas sliced
- 1/2 pepper (orange, yellow or red), deseeded and thinly sliced
- 2 spring onions sliced diagonally
- 1 mild red chilli deseeded and thinly sliced
- a handful of bean sprouts
- a handful of coriander leaves
- a handful of mint leaves plus sprigs to serve
For the dressing
- 2 tbsp coconut milk
- 1 lime finely grated zest and juice
- 1 tbsp crunchy peanut butter (100% peanuts, no sugar)
- 2 tsp soy sauce
- 2 tsp tahini
- 1 tsp Thai fish sauce (nam pla)
- 1 tsp sesame oil
- 1 tsp maple syrup
- 1 cm piece of fresh root ginger peeled and finely grated
- 1 garlic clove crushed
- 1 lemon grass stalk tough outer layers removed, finely chopped
To serve
- 20 g peanuts crushed
- 2 tsp sesame seeds
- mint sprigs
Method
- Place all the vegetables and herbs in a large bowl and mix well.
- Place all the dressing ingredients in a jar, seal with the lid and shake well until combined.
- Pour the dressing over the salad and toss well, then arrange on a serving plate. Top with the peanuts, seeds and extra mint sprigs and serve.
Nutrition
The Midlife Kitchen by Mimi Spencer and Sam Rice, photography by Issy Crocker, is published by Mitchell Beazley.
Wise Living Magazine may receive a small commission to help support the running of this site from purchases made from links on this page. Affiliate links do not influence our editorial or articles published by Wise Living.
