Healthy Thai Salad Recipes

Typical Thai food is very healthy. Made with a variety of fresh ingredients, there is very little, if any, added preservatives. In Thai cuisine, salads play an important role. Searing chilies and spicy curries are balanced on the palette with relief provided by fresh vegetables. Thai salads are made fresh vegetables, either raw or slightly cooked and cooled. One of the features of Thai salads is that the ingredients are not all tossed together as we tend to do in Western cuisine, but rather are deliberately arranged on the serving plate with careful attention given to color, size, and shape. In fact, it can be argued that in Thailand, the presentation of a salad is as important as the combination and quality of ingredients.

Creating Thai salads provides you with the opportunity to express creativity and ingenuity. The only rule of thumb you need to follow is to be mindful of complimentary flavors and agreeable contrasts. For example, a small quantity of meat or fish is a nice contrast to soft, leafy lettuce and julienne carrot strips. The flavors and textures of such a combination both contrast and compliment each other.

Some of the signature flavors of Thai salads are coriander, mint, chilies, lemon or lime. A small portion of meat is also common in Thai salads.

Following are two Thai salad recipes that are family favorites in my house. I adapted a couple of different standard Thai recipes given to me by Thai friends to fit the market supply in my area and the specific tastes of my family.

Cucumber salad

Ingredients

2 - 3 cucumbers, peeled and thinly sliced

4 green onions, bulb and green leaves all thinly sliced

1 cup small, cooked shrimp

1 red sweet pepper, chopped

2 - 4 fresh coriander stems, finely chopped

A handful of fresh mint leaves, finely chopped

Lettuce leaves

2 fresh lemons

1 fresh lime

Dressing

2 T fish sauce

Juice of lemons

Juice of lime

1 T sugar

Dash of pepper

Garnish

Fresh mint leaves

Fresh coriander leaves

Dried chili flakes

Crushed peanuts and/or cashews

Assembly

1. Drain the sliced cucumber on paper towels and pat dry. Leave on the paper towels to remove excess moisture as you work with the other ingredients.
2. Combine next 5 ingredients in a small bowl.
3. Place lettuce leaves on a platter or individual plates. Lay the cucumber slices evenly over the top of the lettuce leaves. Spoon the mixture in the small bowl over the cucumber slices. Finally, sprinkle the dressing ingredients over the salad in the order in which they appear in the list.
4. Before serving, sprinkle the dried chili flakes and crushed nuts in the middle of the arrangement and tuck the fresh coriander and mint leaves into small spaces between the lettuce leaves and the cucumber slices.

Glass Noodle Salad

Ingredients

1 package glass noodles (sometimes called cellophane noodles)

1/8 cup of chicken soup stock

A pinch of ground ginger spice

Pepper

3 fresh lemons

1 T Thai chili paste (red)

1 T fish sauce

5 - 6 green onions, bulb and green leaves all thinly sliced

2 T fresh mint leaves, finely chopped

2 T fresh coriander leaves, finely chopped

6 oz meat, (uncooked) finely chopped - you can choose chicken, pork, or shrimp

Preparation

Soak the glass noodles in warm water for 10 minutes then drain.

In a small saucepan over medium heat, braise the meat in the chicken stock. Add the fish sauce, chili paste, and squeeze the juice from the lemons into the stock.

Slowly add the drained noodles into the liquid mixture, gently covering them with sauce as you add them to the pot.

Add the sliced green onions, coriander and mint while still stirring.

Assembly

Place the lettuce leaves on a serving platter or individual plates.

Using a fork, place the noodle mixture over the leaves.

Serve at room temperature.