As much as I like to stir-fry vegetables, it can get old some days. Spinach is always in our refrigerator and I just need some new idea to make it refreshing and yet delicious at the same time. I grew up eating a lot of cooked vegetables and that’s common in our house (and to most Asians if I may say so). The idea of eating salad wasn’t the exciting to me at the beginning because I just wasn’t used to eating raw lettuce, raw tomatoes, raw spinach, raw watercress, and so on and so forth. Of course after living here for a long while, I love eating both raw and cooked vegetables (yay!).
This tomato and spinach salad is a combination of raw and cooked vegetables with some Asian twist. Honestly speaking, the toppings make this salad dish very delicious. I tried to make it as simple as possible with ingredients that can be easily found for most people so they can too whip this up without much trouble. I love this tomato and spinach salad, the dried shrimp and the peanuts are such good complements to the vegetables!! Try it and you’ll be impressed.
TOMATO AND SPINACH SALAD
Marv's Recipe Notes
Ingredients
- 1 large tomato (cut into small dices)
- 1 lb spinach (washed and trim of tough stems)
- ½ cup of peanuts
- ½ cup of good quality medium-size dried shrimps
Toppings:
- 2 Tbsp of fried shallots crisp (available at Asian grocery store)
- 1 Tbsp of oil
- 1 tsp of fish sauce
- 1 Tbsp of the dried shrimp powder
- 1 Tbsp of chopped peanuts
- Small pinch of salt to taste
- Small pinch of cayenne pepper (optional)
Instructions
Prepare the peanuts and dried shrimps:
- Soak the dried shrimps in warm water for about 5 minutes. Rinse off water and pat dry with paper towel. Preheat a small skillet on high heat without any oil. Add in the dried shrimp and saute until fragrant and dried up further, about 5 minutes. Let them cool down. Place into a food processor and process into fine shreds. Set aside
- Rinse the skillet with clean water. Preheat on fire again. Add in the peanuts and stir to roast the peanuts, but don't burn them, about 3-4 minutes. Let them cool and chop coarsely on the food processor. Set aside
Prepare the salad:
- Bring a large pot of water to a boil. Add in the spinach and cook for about 3 minutes. The spinach should be just wilted but not entirely mushy. Drain off the water and use spatula to press the water out. Set aside
- When ready to serve the salad, place the spinach in a bowl. Add in all the toppings and toss to mix everything. Ready to serve