Thai Power Bowl with Almond Butter Dressing
This Thai power bowl is a delicious, satisfying salad filled with hearty whole grain red rice, protein rich edamame beans, loads of fresh veggies and crunchy cashews. The dressing features almond butter and red curry paste for an amazing Thai flavor that’s perfect for anyone with a peanut allergy.
Read more: Grilled Pineapple Power Bowl, Falafel Salad Bowl, Zesty Quinoa Black Bean Salad, Thai Red Curry Soup.
Is This Thai Grain Bowl Healthy?
Every ingredient in this Thai power bowl is a winner.
The colorful veggies are filled with vitamins, nutrients and phytonutrients (eg. flavonoids abd carotenoids) that can offer anti-inflammatory and antioxidant effects. Getting plenty of colorful veggies is highly recommended by every reputable health and wellness organization and expert in the world.
Which Grains to Choose?
The whole grain I chose when first testing this recipe is red cargo rice. But of course, you could sub in any whole grain, noodle, rice or alternate you’d like! I’ve made this with white rice, rice noodles, brown rice, freekeh, quinoa and even ramen noodles – whatever we have on hand.
Red cargo rice is a beautiful maroon colored long whole grain rice that cooks up in 30-40 minutes. It has a sweet, slightly nutty flavor and a chewy texture. For less chewiness give it a 30 minute soak before cooking. Don’t be put off by the longer cooking time, it’s well worth it and if you make a double batch you can freeze the extras so you have instant whole grain rice for next time.
What are edamame beans?
The edamane beans add great flavor, color and protein to this meal. In fact, edamame beans, which are the beans harvested from the inside of young, green soy bean pods, have all 9 essential amino acids making them a complete protein.
I use frozen shelled edamame beans. To use them I put them in a bowl, cover with water and microwave in 1 minute increments for 2-4 minutes.
How to Make this Power Bowl Vegetarian or Vegan
The thick nut butter dressing is super delicious, but here’s a heads up – if you’re making this vegan or vegetarian, choose your red curry paste carefully. Red curry paste is often made with shrimp paste or fish sauce. Thai Kitchen brand and Cock Red Paste are two that have vegan friendly ingredients (at least at the time of writing this article).
By choosing Vegan or Vegetarian friendly red curry paste and changing honey to another sweetener, this power bowl becomes suitable for Vegan or Vegetarian diners and tastes equally amazing!
The great thing about this Thai power bowl is you can customize it how ever you want or based on whatever is in your fridge. You can also choose to serve it with or without lettuce greens.
Recipe for Thai Power Bowl
Thai Power Bowl
Ingredients
- 3/4 cup raw red rice
- 1 cup frozen shelled edamame beans
- 1 cup shredded red cabbage
- 1 cup shredded carrots
- 1 cup sweet peppers diced (mixed colors)
- 1/2 cup cashews
- 3 green onions sliced diagonally
- 1/2 cup chopped cilantro
Dressing
- 2 Tbsp almond butter
- 1 Tbsp rice vinegar
- 1 Tbsp lime juice
- 1 tsp soy sauce
- 1/2 Tbsp honey or maple syrup
- 1 tsp sesame oil
- 1-2 tsp red curry paste*
- 3-4 Tbsp water as desired
Instructions
- To cook red rice, rinse rice well under running cold water. Place in bowl, cover with water and let soak for 30 minutes for more tender rice. Drain. Place rice and 1 1/2 cup water in pot. Bring to boil. Reduce heat and simmer for 30 minutes. Pour into strainer and rinse with cold water.
- To prepare frozen edamame beans, place frozen beans in microwave safe bowl and add 2 tablespoons water. Heat at 1 minute intervals for 2-4 minutes, stirring between each. Drain water and rinse with cold water to cool.
- To prepare dressing combine all ingredients except water in a small bowl and whisk until well combined. If nut butter or honey is too stiff, warm slightly in microwave before adding to bowl. Taste and adjust seasoning as desired. Add as much water as needed to create your preferred consistency.
- To assemble, either mix salad ingredients together in a large bowl or arrange each ingredient in a colorful display on a large platter.
- Serve dressing on the side to allow each guest to dress their own salad.
- Store leftovers in the fridge for up to 3 days.
- Store extra dressing for up to a week or freeze for extended storage. It can even be thawed and re-frozen.
Notes
This dressing also makes a great dip for Vegetable Summer Rolls .
If you want to lighten up this salad, serve it with lettuce greens.
Nutrition Facts (per serving)
How to Serve Thai Power Bowl Salad
Like most of the grain salads I serve, I like to show off the beautiful colors and textures of the ingredients and let everyone around the table assemble their own salad bowls. The dressing is also served on the side so people can opt for as much or as little as they like. That way, you can offer a couple of different dressings if you’d like – try the sesame ginger dressing that goes with my broccoli edamame salad. My hubby loves it for this power bowl.
When it’s all mixed together on a dinner plate or in a bowl, it looks a little like this.
When my daughter saw the platter of veggies and rice, she lit up and pulled out the rice wrappers. She turned her Thai Power Bowl into summer rolls – great idea!
Other whole grain salads
If you’re interested in more whole grain salads, here are some others on this website. You can easily switch the whole grain in any of these recipes. For gluten free options consider hulled oats, quinoa or buckwheat.
If you make this salad, please let me know what you think and what kind of veggies and grains you used. Leave a comment and if you make it, share a photo on Instagram and tag @getgettys so I can see it and like it there!
Sign up to get articles by Getty delivered to your inbox. You’ll get recipes, practical tips and great food information like this. Getty is a Professional Home Economist, speaker and writer putting good food on tables and agendas. She is the author of Manitoba’s best-selling Prairie Fruit Cookbook, Founder of Fruit Share, a mom and veggie gardener.