Not surprisingly, being intolerant to soy makes eating many of my favorite Asian dishes a bit tricky unless I make them myself – an issue I know I don’t face alone! Topping this list is a variety of peanut sauces for dishes such as Chicken satay or gado –gado (working on getting those recipes right for you). Recently I’ve discovered that I can use Maggi™ and water to make what I call faux-sauce – tastes just like good soy sauce but is wheat based (my GF friends can use gluten free soy sauce for this recipe).

With this newfound knowledge I’ve been playing around with tons of new Asian inspired dishes – which my daughter is all over since she loves most of the Asian foods she has tried (and she’s tried a lot). A few weeks back she and I came up with a terrific peanut-sauce inspired cold slaw.

This fast and easy recipe is delicious straight-away, but even tastier the next day. Additional bonus – it is ginger free as well so my ginger-allergic friends can enjoy it too!

Here’s what you need and what to do once you’ve got the stuff…

4 cups of ‘slaw’ – we use green & purple cabbage with a little carrot – on a busy day we used the un-dressed, pre-shredded bags of slaw mix which can be found in your grocer’s bagged salad section. I’ve also used the undressed broccoli-slaw; it gives it a slightly different but equally tasty flavor.

1/3 cup extra crunchy peanut butter
1.5 Tablespoons oyster sauce (GF if necessary)
4 Tablespoons Sesame oil
¼ cup peanut oil
½ cup rice wine vinegar
1 Tablespoon Maggiâ„¢ mixed with 3.5 Tablespoons of water
2 Tablespoons light brown sugar
½ teaspoon garlic chili paste
1 teaspoon cracked black pepper
3 Tablespoons minced fresh Thai basil – optional (but really tasty)

Add the minced basil (if desired) to the slaw

In large mixing bowl whisk the other ingredients together until the peanut butter is all broken up and the dressing is smooth (except for the actual bits of peanuts) – taste for seasoning, you shouldn’t need salt however you may wish for a spicier dressing (I add 1 teaspoon of garlic chili paste when I make it for just me – one batch is 4 days of lunch). You might want more sesame oil or pepper – it’s all up to you!

Once you have it mixed and seasoned to taste – dump your slaw into a large sealable plastic container (or a glass bowl with plastic wrap – you get the idea) pour ½ the dressing over the salad and then shake, shake, shake it up until it’s well mixed.

Taste and decide if you want more – some like a dryer slaw, some a wetter one.

If you’re making it 4 hours or up to a day ahead I suggest that you use half the dressing when you make it… then add more the next day an hour or so before serving.

The vinegar in the dressing will cause the veggies to ‘weep’ – or release moisture – a little bit – if you add too much dressing for the amount of veggie you may end up with a wetter slaw than desired.

Remember to re-shake or stir the dressing before serving.

Will last in the fridge up to five days or on your friends potluck table for up to 4 hours or until it’s gone, whichever comes first…

Enjoy!