Thursday, December 16, 2010

Gado Gado


Amidst the family gatherings, end of the quarter celebrations, and general holiday festivity, it has been hard to eat healthy this week! I had a magnificent Southern meal last night with Charlie with melt-in-your-mouth collared greens. The director of my program hosted a holiday party at her home last Friday with pesto pinwheels, olive poppers, and champagne. My mom returned home from work recently with a Tupperware full of homemade cookies made by her school's PTSA. Needless to say, my body (and brain) have been aching for a healthy meal, and tonight was the perfect chance. I made Gado Gado for myself, with plenty of leftover ingredients to make it again this weekend.

Gado Gado is an Indonesian salad with yellow rice and a ginger garlic peanut dressing.  I started the dinner by cooking brown rice in water with a sprinkling of tumeric. I gathered the rest of the ingredients while the rice simmered.  After the rice was tender, I layered the following on a plate:

1. A bed of spinach
2. Yellow rice
3. An assortment of vegetables; I used shavings of carrots, edamame, and cucumber
4. Hardboiled eggs
5. Super delicious peanut dressing: peanut butter, garlic, fresh ginger, brown sugar, cider vinegar, soy sauce, salt, and crushed red pepper blended up with hot water. It turned out a little too thin, but the flavor was so intense and scrumptious, I think I'll let that slide.

This was such a fresh, delightful dinner. I need to remind myself sometimes of these healthy foods, especially in a month where rich foods are prominent!

2 comments:

  1. I don't like salad very much, which is a little weird for someone who loves veggies as much as me. But this salad was awesome! There are enough distractions from the leafy greens to make it palatable to me... and it's so easy to make! You can make it too, Caton! Wahoo!

    ReplyDelete