A random medley turned yummy salad

We decided to have a quiet dinner at home on our anniversary. The usual suspects sprang to mind as I mused about the menu, but I wanted to make something else, something special. M nudged me for some Thai/Malay flavours and that got me started. I made a trip to the supermarket and built the menu as I walked through the aisles and here's what we had -

a beautiful, colourful and crunchy salad
Thai green curry with steamed rice
yummy, fresh fruits with custard for dessert
and a bottle of gorgeous red wine

A bunch of red roses and a scented candle made for a perfect romantic dinner :)

The salad, however, was the star of the night. We absolutely loved it! Inspired by the Asian flavours, I made up the dressing myself and it turned out real nice. I'm sure I'm going to make this salad again and again..and again! It's that good. Here's the recipe -


1/2 cup toasted peanuts
1-2 green chillies
a small chunk of ginger
1 small tomato, roughly sliced

1/2 a pack of mixed salad greens
2 carrots, julienned
1 cucumber, julienned
1 small red onion, finely sliced
1 cup crimson seedless grapes, halved

1 tbspn lemon juice
a pinch of sugar
salt to taste
1/2 a bunch of fresh coriander, chopped

Combine the first set of ingredients in a food processor. DO NOT grind to a paste, just pulse it a couple of times to keep it crunchy and coarse.

Combine the second set of ingredients in a salad bowl. To this, add the peanut mixture you just prepared and toss well.
Flavour and garnish with the last set of ingredients.

It's best eaten immediately while it's still fresh and crunchy.
It tasted great with some crispy garlic bread.