Rainbow Thai Salad

Eat your rainbow, right? You've heard me say it before and I will say it again. The more nutrient dense, colorful foods you eat, the more your body will thank you. This amazing salad is filled with power greens (baby kale, red chard, crunchy broccoli). It is also topped crisp cucumbers, bell peppers, carrots and cilantro. Add your protein with chicken and cashews. A little bit of rice noodles are mixed in for a light carb-y touch. And it is all tossed together with a spicy Thai peanut dressing. I love all of the delicious Thai flavors, but here it is in a light and healthy salad. If you're looking for negative aspects, you're probably out of luck. I shouldn't even be trying to sell this to you. If the picture isn't enough, and if you don't care about nourishing your body... Then at least let your tongue and taste buds go "Ah Num". My every salad skeptical husband was like "Will this be good?". I'm not even going to justify that with an answer. You or him!

Serves 4

For the Salad Dressing:

1/4 cup smooth peanut butter

1/4 cup rice wine vinegar

1/4 cup fresh lime juice

3 tbsp vegetable oil

2 tbsp soy sauce

2 tbsp honey

1 tbsp agave nectar

1 tbsp ginger paste

2 garlic cloves

1/2-1 tsp red pepper flakes

1/4 cup cilantro leaves

1. Combine all of the ingredients except for the red pepper flakes and the cilantro in a food processor. Blend for roughly 30 seconds on "puree".

2. Add the cilantro leaves and the red pepper flakes (to desired spice level) and blend on the "chop" setting for 10-15 seconds.

3. Transfer the dressing to a lidded container and shake before serving.

For the Salad:

(This is kind of a rough guide line. You don't need exact quantities of any of these ingredients)

1 10 oz bag of baby power greens (this is typically, kale, chard, spinach, etc...)

1/2 of a cucumber, sliced

2 red, orange or yellow bell peppers, julienned

1 cup of shredded carrots

1/2- 3/4 cup of cilantro leaves

1 cup cooked rice noodles (rice sticks/vermicelli noodles) (You might want to cut them shorter, it is easier to eat that way.)

1-2 cooked chicken breasts, diced 1 cup cashews 1. Add the power greens, the sliced cucumber, julienned peppers, shredded carrots, cilantro leaves, diced chicken breast and cashews to a bowl. 2. Before you add the rice noodles, go ahead and grab kitchen scissors and just kind of cut them in a bowl. There is no real precision needed here. Just make sure they're less than 3" long or so. Add them to the bowl as well. 3. Pour your dressing in (probably about 2/3- 3/4 of the jar). 4. Toss everything together and serve. Enjoy!