Recipe of the Week: Vegetable Satay on Zucchini and Kelp Noodles

One of the exciting culinary discoveries we made while in the US was Penzeys Spices, a company that sells wonderfully fresh and fragrant spice blends. We made sure to stock up at one of their stores on the way to San Francisco. What a fabulous aromatic experience that was! I could have stayed there for hours sniffing at all of their little sampler glass jars! Among our tasty acquisitions that day was a satay seasoning that I finally got around to experimenting with this week.

Conventional satay sauce usually calls for canned coconut milk and peanut butter. In rawifying this dish I replaced these with freshly made young coconut milk and a mixture of raw almond butter and tahini.

The result was deliciously creamy, exotic and, of course, yummy, but not having had satay before I had no sense of its flavors' authenticity. A friend who was trained and has worked as a chef happened to drop by that afternoon. How perfectly timely! She tasted my concoction and gave me the thumbs up. Hoo-rah!

I served the dish on a mixture of zucchini and kelp noodles (which I loooooove!) Speaking of which, The Raw Life Store has kelp noodles on sale this month. Yippee! You can buy the individual 12 oz package for $3.47 or a 3 pack for $9.36. Guess where I'm going shopping next! ;-)

Vegetable Satay on Zucchini and Kelp Noodles

Marinated Veggies
Mushrooms, sliced
Baby bok choi, sliced
Red and yellow bell pepper, cubed
Snow peas, sliced diagonally
Green onions, sliced
Mung bean sprouts, rinsed and drained

Toss veggies in a marinade made of equal part cold pressed olive oil and tamari or Nama Shoyu, and half of that amount of roasted sesame oil (not raw but gives the dish a delightful authentic Asian flavor). For example, I used 2 tbs oil, 2 tbs tamari and 1 1/2 tsp roasted sesame oil.

Let sit for at least one hour to allow the flavors to blend and for the veggies to get a 'cooked' texture.

Drain excess liquid before serving.

Carmella's Note: I added the bean sprouts just in the last 15 minutes or so as I wanted them to retain some crunchiness.

Satay Sauce

Yields about 3 cups

1 1/4 cup fresh coconut milk*
1/4 cup + 2 tablespoons raw almond butter
1/4 cup raw tahini
3 garlic cloves
3 tablespoons tamari or Nama Shoyu
2 tablespoons cold pressed olive oil or raw sesame oil
2 tablespoons lime juice
1 tablespoon agave
3 teaspoons Satay spice mix (I used Penzeys' Saté Seasoning)
1 1/2 teaspoons cumin
3/4 teaspoon coriander
1/2 teaspoon chili powder (or more, if you like it spicy!)
1/2 teaspoon sea salt

*To make coconut milk, blend 1/2 cup young coconut meat with 3/4 cup water until smooth and creamy.

 Blend all ingredients until smooth in high power blender.

Noodles
I used a mixture of zucchini noodles done on my favorite spiral slicer and kelp noodles that I had soaked for a few hours.

Toss kelp noodles in a little Satay Sauce and let sit for 30 minutes to soften them up.

Just before serving, mix zucchini noodles with kelp noodles.

Carmella's Note: If you wish a warm dish, place the Marinated Veggies and noodles tossed in some Satay Sauce (in separate bowls) in the dehydrator for one hour at 110.

Assembly
To serve, place some noodles on a plate, top with marinated veggies and extra Satay Sauce.