Peanut Sauce or Salad Dressing

First off, I have to apologize.  I meant to post this last week.  Or was it the week before?  I remember a couple people were curious about my salad creation and I was so excited to share it, but I had forgotten to take pictures and then I completely forgot.  Then suddenly, I realized I had lettuce and this dressing and I got excited all over again.  So here we are.  Finally.

Only a few people know this about me… I could(and occasionally do) eat peanut butter off the spoon.  And although I used to love peanut butters like Skippy with the added oil and sugar and salt, now I really don’t even like the taste of them.  We have a store brand peanut butter here that’s just roasted peanuts.  No salt, no sugar and certainly nothing hydrogenated, and somehow it’s the best peanut butter ever.  Yum.

On the other hand, my husband does not like peanut butter.  He likes peanut butter cookies, and spicy peanut sauce on his potstickers but that’s about it.  You will never catch him eating it off a spoon, ever.  Which is cool with me.

So here’s something I can make with peanut butter that we’ll both enjoy(not counting peanut butter cookies :D).  This sauce/dip/dressing, whatever you want to call it, can really be used on anything.  Use it as a dip for dumplings and potstickers, a dip for raw veggies, on fresh spring rolls, even over eggs, the list goes on and on, the only difference is how much water you’ll need to add.  So enjoy whatever way you like!

I used this on a salad made with romaine lettuce, some very thinly sliced red pepper and a sprinkle of peanuts, and I think roughly chopped snap or snow peas would be really awesome.

[print_this]Peanut Sauce

• 1/2 C natural peanut butter
• 2 tbsp honey(or brown rice syrup)
• 2 tbsp sesame oil
• 2 tbsp apple cider vinegar
• 1 tsp grated ginger
• 1 tbsp soy sauce
• 1-2 cloves garlic
• 1 tbsp peanut oil, or another flavorless oil
• red pepper flakes to taste
• water to thin

In a small blender or mini food processor add all the ingredients except the peanut butter and water.  Blend until smooth, adding a tablespoon of water if needed.  This sauce is fairly mild flavored so if you’d prefer it to be a little stronger feel free to add more garlic and ginger and a pinch or two of red pepper flakes added at this point would be delicious.

Add the peanut butter and continue to blend.  For a thicker sauce for dipping I suggest only adding about 2-3 tbsp of water but for a salad dressing probably a 1/4 C of water or more.  Add the water gradually to find your perfect consistency.  The sauce will thicken in the fridge slightly but will quickly thin out at room temperature again.  Store in the fridge for up a week.  If the sauce separates just stir it back together before using.[/print_this]