Make This Vegan Pad Thai Salad Recipe to Beat Lunch Boredom

Eating the same lunch day after day can get boring. Remy Park, the food blogger behind Veggiekins, has a great way to bring some excitement back to your meals: add a little color and crunch.

In the latest Brightly Bites, Park shared her Pad Thai-Inspired Salad recipe. Aside from being a healthy staple that's loaded with flavor, it also helps you reduce food waste by using up the veggies in your fridge that are about to go bad. It's a win for you and the planet.

"It can be made with leftover veggies," she says. "The dressing takes heavy inspiration from Pad Thai sauce, with lots of umami and zest from lime juice."

The recipe is also entirely vegan; plant-based ingredients produce fewer carbon emissions than animal-based foods. Aside from the colorful veggies, it uses ingredients like vegan fish sauce, coconut aminos, and cashew butter for flavor.

If you want to try Park's recipe for yourself, follow along below. Your lunches are about to get a lot more Instagram-worthy.

Remy's Crunchy Pad Thai-Inspired Salad

Ingredients:

2 cups shredded purple cabbage
3-4 mini cucumbers, julienned
1 large carrot, julienned
1/2 cup radicchio, chiffonade
Handful of breakfast radishes, sliced thinly
1 cup shredded green papaya (optional, but use if you can find)

Pad Thai-Inspired Dressing:

1/2 fresh lime, juiced
2 Tbsp coconut aminos
2 tsp vegan fish sauce
2 tsp tamarind purée
1 clove garlic, minced finely
1 Tbsp rice wine vinegar
2 Tbsp cashew butter (optional)

Optional:

Fresh Thai chili peppers
Crushed roasted peanuts, to garnish
Dried chili flakes, to garnish
Green onions, to garnish

Instructions:

1. Start by whisking together the dressing ingredients in a large bowl. Adjust to taste and if using cashew butter; you may need to thin with 1 to 2 Tbsp water.
2. Add your sliced veggies to the bowl and toss to coat, using your hands or tongs.
3. Garnish with peanuts, chili flakes, and green onion if desired.