Thai Salad

So, in a quest to re-create the salad from Sala Thai in Duluth, MN on Woodland Ave, I first looked up their menu to see if they listed the salad (usually on the lunch buffet), and if it then listed the ingredients.
It did!

I had nearly everything except bean noodles and wanted to use up some other things I had on hand.
The next was to figure out the amounts for the dressing, which is what I love most about the salad as it has a nice bite to it, and is very light.

The salad is listed on their regular menu as Fresh and Crispy Vegetable Salad and lists for $9.95! Yikes! The Lunch Buffet is $11-12 now (not the $7.95 as listed on their website).
Fresh and Crispy Vegetable Salad ………..…..….............................$9.95Diced cabbage, cucumbers, bean noodles, tomatoes, graded carrot mix, topped withcilantro, fish sauce, lime juice and roasted ground chili.

I've found restaurants have gotten so expensive for some basic foods such as burgers, sandwiches and salads, often anywhere from 8-11.00 or more! Robbery for what goes into them, especially if there is no chicken, or other meat involved.

I love the food at Sala Thai, and other ethnic restaurants, but really only enjoy going if there is a buffet so I can try the dishes first - then maybe order them as a meal another time, or to just try new foods/dishes and then find recipes online to re-create them and save a few $ while chowing down on my favourites.

Hey, I just finished school in December, only work 3 part-time jobs, make a very low wage, and have my house and bills to pay (not to mention student loans now too)! No longer do I make the money I made in Vegas last year, so my 'splurging days' are back to nearly nil until I find a 'real' full-time job, but I digress...

Here is what I ended up using:

In a small bowl mix for Sauce/Dressing
(Mix this first to lessen your wait time if in a hurry so the flavours marry and sugar dissolves completely). Also, to me, it seemed as with the sauce that was extra later in the container, that this would have been enough for a double recipe, if not a little more. You try it and see.
1/4 Cup Lime Juice
1 Tablespoon Fish Sauce
1 Tablespoon Sugar (or Stevia? - I just bought some, but forgot I had it and am not sure of the equal measurement)
1 Tablespoon Shredded/Chopped Ginger Root
1 Teaspoon Crushed Red Peppers
1/4 bunch Cilantro chopped (add to sauce) or just picked apart for the leaves and tossed into the container. Your choice.
2 Garlic Cloves, Minced (I had none, and it was fine for me, but I'd probably get some for next time.) Go by how much you love/hate garlic.

Mix the sauce/dressing ingredients well in a small bowl. Let sit 30 minutes.


Fresh Salad Ingredients:
1/4 Diced Cabbage (could have easily added more - Green or Red)
1 Diced Cucumber (wish I had two but wasnt't running to the store - I wanted to use what I have).
2 Small Tomatoes Halved and then sliced then halfed those.
1/4 Sweet Onion Sliced Very Thin (some online recipes called for Red Onion, and I swear I've seen both Red or Regular and Green Onion used at the restaurant - adapt to your tastes - I prefer sweet).
1 Large Carrot Grated
1 Large Jalapeno chopped(remove seeds and ribs if you like them more mild).
1/4 Bunch Cilantro - leaves only - pull off stems and toss in container (see above)
Oooorrrr, chopped (which is what I did). I did toss a few leaves into the container, but the rest I chopped and added to the sauce to flavour that (this try anyway to see how that goes). Depends on how much you like/hate cilantro. I love it.
2 Tablespoons Finely Chopped Roasted Unsalted Peanuts or Cashews (Optional).

Other online recipes also used more or less ingredients and/or some of the following:
Salt, Vinegar, Rice Vinegar, Soy Sauce, Sesame Oil, Sesame Seeds or Thai Chili Peppers (I have some, dried, but and would use in place of the Jalapeños next time, so they'd reconstitute. I don't care for salty things or the Sesame Oil so I followed the restaurant more. It was soooo good.

Mix the salad ingredients in a large bowl or Tupperware/Rubbermaid container.




Once 30 minutes has passed drizzle the sauce over the salad and mix, tossing well to coat.
Refrigerate 15-30 minutes to chill.
Serve!

YUM!!!
This turned out pretty damn close as far as I could tell without having a sample of theirs for a side-by-side taste test, so I'm not sure I'll change or adapt it in any way. I was pretty happy with my re-creation.

Here is a pic of my #3 Square Rubbermaid conainer which is only about 1/3 full - so if you want more, double or triple the recipe. I wanted to try it out before making a huge batch.

There was a lot of sauce in the bottom of the bowl after being refrigerated for an hour (while I was writing this and doing a couple of other things), after transferring some into my personal bowl to go with my meal, so I know I'd only use one sauce to double the salad or more as I just wanted the flavour, not to be drowning in sauce (keeps the rest from getting soggy too fast too).