Meal Prep: Thai Salad
I'm a big meal prepper, and I have been for a long time. Spending a couple of hours once a week to make lunches and breakfasts (and the occasional dinner) for the week helps to save me so much time, and I eat much more healthy as well.
Lately, I've been focusing on two main things with my meal preps: protein and fibre. I know that protein is having a huge moment right now, every TikTok I watch, it seems like, is another high protein recipe. But many of those recipes include meat and eggs, which are two things that don't really have a huge part in my diet. Greek Yogurt and Cottage Cheese are another two very popular ingredients right now, and I'm not a huge fan of cottage cheese (though if you blend it, it's better). I do usually have some yogurt in my fridge. Of course, there's also protein powder, and it exists in many vegan formulations, but other than a half a scoop in my smoothies, I don't mess with it much.
One of the side effects of these high protein diets (and let me just say: I do think protein is important, but 150g per day seems excessive), is that people are getting less fibre in their diets, and it's leading to problems like higher incidences of colon cancer in young people. Colon cancer is the reason I no longer have a mother, so I take it pretty seriously, which means having a colonoscopy every 5 years, and paying pretty close attention to my digestive health.
There are two types of fibre: soluble (which dissolves in water) and insoluble (which does not). You need both for good digestion.
Good sources of fibre:
- Oats and whole grains like brown rice, barley, quinoa
- Beans, pulses and legumes
- Fruits like apples, berries, bananas, avocados and dried fruits
- Vegetables like broccoli, brussels sprouts, sweet potatoes
- Seeds like our old buddies chia and flax, as well as psyllium
This really tasty Thai Salad is a kind of slaw that incorporates lots of different sources of both fibre and plant-based protein. I used a jarred dressing here, specifically the Thai Peanut one from Everland Foods, but if you wanted to, you could make your own using the dressing from this salad here.
What I love about this Thai Salad is that unlike many salad meal preps, it will stay good (and crunchy) in the fridge for quite some time. Many salad preps are sad and wilted by the time you get to Thursday, but this is not one of them!
Meal Prep: Thai Salad
Ingredients
- 1/2 small regular cabbage shredded or thinly sliced
- 1/2 medium napa cabbage shredded or thinly sliced (chiffonade)
- 2 large carrots shredded on a box grater or cut into ribbons with a peeler
- 1 red pepper cut into matchsticks
- 1 cup snow peas cut into thirds
- 1 block smoked tofu cut into 1" pieces
- 1 cup frozen edamame thawed
- 1/4 cup cilantro chopped
- 1/4 cup green onions chopped
- 1/4 cup peanuts or almonds toasted
- 1 bottle Thai Peanut Dressing Everland Foods
Instructions
- Toss everything into a bowl, including the dressing and toss well to combine.
- Store in the fridge in an airtight container for up to a week.