Many Asian cuisines offer comforting dishes loaded with noodles, sticky sauces, and richly marinated meats. With inspiration from Chinese, Arabic, Indian, and European cuisines, Indonesian food provides a vast array of recipes to choose from. While you can enjoy popular favorites like nasi goreng, a fried rice dish, the spectrum is diverse.
Ingredients
For the peanut sauce
⅔ cup natural smooth peanut butter
⅛ cup soy sauce
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 tablespoon grated ginger
Juice of 1 lime
1 Thai chili, minced
2 teaspoons roasted red chili paste
2 teaspoons sugar
Salt, to taste
For the tofu
¼ cup soy sauce
3 teaspoons liquid smoke
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 (12-ounce) package extra-firm tofu, sliced into 12 even pieces
Cooking spray, as needed
For the salad
10 ounces baby new potatoes, halved
1 ½ cups matchstick-cut carrots
3 cups chopped rainbow chard
8 ounces green beans
4 hard-boiled eggs, halved
1 yellow or orange bell pepper, thinly sliced
2 cups shredded purple cabbage
2 cups bean sprouts
½ English cucumber, thinly sliced
6 red radishes, quartered
2 green onions, finely sliced
¼ cup chopped peanuts
Directions
Mix all of the peanut sauce ingredients in a small saucepan set over medium-low heat. Add ½ cup of water to thin it out and bring to a simmer.
Cook for 5 minutes, stirring regularly, then remove from heat and cover to keep warm.
To prepare the tofu, add the soy sauce, liquid smoke, and garlic to a shallow bowl and mix well.
Add the sliced tofu to the soy sauce marinade and let sit for 15 minutes.
Heat a grill pan over high heat and coat with cooking spray.
Grill the tofu for 1 ½ minutes per side until browned, then remove from the pan and cover to keep warm.
Bring a large pot of water to a boil.
Add the potatoes and cook for 5 minutes or until done, then use a slotted spoon to remove them and set them aside.
Add the carrots to the same pot of water and cook for 1 minute, then transfer to a colander to drain.
Follow the same steps to cook the chard and green beans.
To assemble the salad, arrange the cooked and raw vegetables, tofu, and eggs on a large serving platter.
Pour the warm peanut sauce into a small serving bowl — you may need to add a little water to thin it out — and place onto the center of the platter.
Garnish the salad with green onions and chopped peanuts.
