Inspired Healthy Dinner: Gado-Gado Peanut Sauce

About 15 years ago my husband and I had the opportunity to visit Bali, Indonesia.  It was a little offshoot of a trip to Hong Kong we took to visit some good friends. Bali was our friends' all-time favorite vacation destination and so they arranged for us all to go together.  I have to say - Bali was one of the most amazing places I have ever been! (the photo is of me looking out over the rice terraces near Ubud, Bali)

We loved Bali for so many reasons - the people, the Hindu culture, the gorgeous scenery from beaches to mountains - but the food was incredible too!  One of my favorite dishes was a vegetable salad called Gado-Gado.  Traditionally Gado-Gado is made with cooked green vegetables such as green beans, bean sprouts and cabbage, served with hard boiled eggs, sliced cucumbers and sometimes carrots and tomatoes.  All this is topped with a yummy peanut sauce.  Because most of the vegetables are cooked, it's not really what we tend to call a salad, but rather it's more like a one-dish meal. 

When I saw a recipe for Gado-Gado in The Homesteader's Kitchen cookbook, I was very excited to try it.  (The recipe is for the sauce only, not the whole dish.)  Originally, I was planning to make the whole traditional salad but one thing led to another and I ended up serving the sauce with chicken, brocolli and rice. But that's the great thing about this sauce - it is so versatile!!  Really what wouldn't go well with peanut sauce?  I didn't take a photo of our meal, but I do have the recipe to share - courtesy of Gibbs Smith - the publisher of the cookbook:

I've made a lot of peanut sauces over the years.  Most of them are thick and gloppy.  What I like best about this recipe is that the sauce is thin - almost soupy.  Plus the coconut milk adds an incredible layer of flavor.  The recipe makes 3 cups of sauce, which is a lot.  If you don't think you'll need that much, cut the recipe in half.  But this stuff is so dang good - I'm telling you - you could serve it for breakfast, lunch & dinner!  

(Note:  I received a free review copy of The Homesteader's Kitchen. If you purchase the book through the links in this post, I will get a wee bit of cash from Amazon Associates.)

{salad image courtesy of taste.com.au via Google Images}

Comments

[Chriss]

How long will this last in the Fridge? Not that I expect it to last very long as it sounds amazing.

[Micaela]

Because it has coconut milk in it, you probably wouldn't want to keep it for much more than a week. I'm wondering whether or not it would freeze well but I haven't tried. So if you don't think you would use up the whole recipe, I would cut it in half.

[oak dining table]

This sauce is so interesting. This is really new to me. I am going to give this a try. Thanks for sharing the idea.