Gado Gado (Salad with Peanut Dressing)

Peanuts are a wonderful thing.  If I were ever to meet George Washington Carver in some sort of surreal other dimension, he and I would be able to converse for hours on the matter.  They have so many culinary uses (not to mention other non-foodie uses: i.e. their ability to remove chewing gum from fabric, etc.); but, my favorite application (aside from the ever-holy Reese's Peanut Butter Cup) would have to be peanut dressing used in Asian salads.  I have often eaten the Thai version, though it would only make sense that the Indonesians would have their own derivation.

As our family's more healthful new year had begun, salads became a typical nightly meal for our household.  One way to make the drugery of salad seem less intense was to make this dressing.  Perhaps not a low-cal or low-fat topping, it was inspiring in its own right - even if it wasn't the healthiest option.  We chose to find health in other avenues, such as adding more tomatoes or boosting the bean sprouts.  We would do anything, except cut the peanuts - those beautiful peanuts, without whom our world would never be the same.

Salad Ingredients:

• 1 small head of lettuce
• 2-3 medium tomatoes
• 1 medium onion
• 2-3 green onions
• 1 medium cucumber
• 1 fresh red chili

Dressing Ingredients:

• 1 Tbsp. dark soy sauce
• 2 tsp. lemon juice
• 4 Tbsp. peanut butter
• 1 tsp. ground chili paste
• 2 tsp. dark brown sugar
• 1 cup thick coconut milk
• 1/2 tsp. crushed garlic
• 1/2 tsp. minced ginger
• 1/2 tsp. minced lemon grass root
• 2 Tbsp. vegetable or coconut oil

Instructions:

1. Rinse the lettuce in cold water, drain well and shake or wipe dry.  Arrange on a wide platter or in a large salad bowl. 
2. Thinly slice tomatoes and onion.  Trim green onions and cut into shreds.  Peel the cucumber and cut into cubes, discarding the seeds.  Slit the chilies and scrape out the seeds, cut the flesh into fine shreds.
3. To make the dressing, mix the soy sauce, lemon juice, peanut butter, chili paste and sugar together in a small saucepan.  Add the coconut milk.  Heat, stirring, almost to the boiling point.
4. Saute the garlic, ginger and lemon grass root in the oil for 2-3 minutes, until fragrant.  Pour into the sauce and simmer for 4-5 minutes, until sauce is very thick.  Allow to cool.  Pour into a dish or pitcher and serve with salad.

(The original recipe came from "Asia: The Beautiful Cookbook" by Jacki Passmore.)