Two weeks ago, I ran the half marathon distance of the St Paul Monster Dash. It was a gorgeous fall day and the course was completely beautiful. I wish I could also say it was the perfect race for me, but it wasn’t. I was lucky to cross the finish line on this one.
I had trained very hard for 6 months to get my mileage and time to where I wanted them to be. Just the week before, my 12 mile run had felt fabulous with a fabulous time to match. So why, 7 days later, did I feel like I was going to die? I knew I was in trouble just a few miles in. I had to decide if I was going to walk away or fight to the 13.1 mile finish. I decided to fight to the end, and believe me, it was a battle! While I did not set a new personal record for my time like I had planned, I chose not to be disappointed. I chose to be proud of how hard I had trained and how unbelievably hard I had to push myself during the race when my body was not cooperating.
From past experiences, I knew something I had eaten is what made me so sick. I am gluten intolerant and during my 6 months of training, I was meticulous in everything I ate instead of my normal cautiousness when it came to gluten. I knew that there was no way gluten had made me sick. It was something else and I now think it was rice. I’ve been doing some dietary experimentation over the past couple weeks and my body has definitely decided rice is no longer it’s friend.
I wish I would have made this discovery a few weeks earlier because for the three days leading up to my half marathon, I completely pigged out on this addictive Thai Coconut Rice Salad. I couldn’t stop eating it. It was so yummy that my hubby and I fought over the last helping in the fridge the day before my race. I won…..
So for those of you whose bodies aren’t stupid like mine, you have to give this recipe a try because you will be making it over and over and over again! It is a vegetarian and vegan salad, but it was be rock-star awesome with your favorite protein mixed in as well.
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Thai Coconut Rice Salad
Ingredients
Salad
- 1 1/2 C jasmine rice
- 15 ounce can unsweetened coconut milk
- 1 clove garlic, minced
- 1 tsp salt
- 1 C water
- 2 red bell peppers, chopped
- 1/2 small red cabbage, sliced
- 1 1/2 C shredded carrots
- 1 small red onion, finely diced
- 1 C chopped cilantro
- 3/4 C chopped green onions
- 2 C salted peanuts
Dressing
- 1/3 C peanut butter
- 2 Tb honey or agave
- 3 tsp freshly grated ginger
- 2 Tb rice vinegar
- 2 tsp sesame oil
- 1 1/2 Tb siracha
- water to thin
- 2 limes, sliced – don’t skip these!!!
Instructions
- Rinse the dry rice in a strainer until the water runs clear. In a medium sized pot, mix together the rice, coconut milk, garlic salt and water. Cover and bring to a boil then reduce the heat to low and let simmer until liquid is gone, about 15 minutes.
- Once the rice is cooked, fluff the rice with a fork and put it in a large bowl. Add the peppers, cabbage, carrots, red onion, cilantro, green onions and peanuts. Mix well until combined.
- Make the dressing by combining the peanut butter, honey, ginger, rice vinegar, siracha and sesame oil. Add enough water to thin it out to the consistency of a thick pancake batter.
- To serve, place the rice salad on a plate, then drizzle on some of the dressing along with a generous squeeze of the lime. Do not skip the lime juice because it is part of the dressing! Add a few additional peanuts over the top and a few extra drops of siracha if you like it a bit spicier like we do.
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 1/8th
- Calories: 344
- Sugar: 14g
- Sodium: 565mg
- Fat: 22g
- Saturated Fat: 4g
- Unsaturated Fat: 12g
- Trans Fat: 0g
- Carbohydrates: 33g
- Fiber: 8g
- Protein: 12g
- Cholesterol: 0mg
Suzette Carlin says
Hello Carole,
I love the recipe and it sounds delicious. Have you ever considered that you might have an intolerance to fructose? I had to follow a FODMAP diet for a while because I was fructose intolerant. The recipe believe it or not has a lot of that in it. Garlic, onions and peanut butter it can wreak havoc on your body. I’m not convinced that the rice was your culprit. There is a company that makes spices and food products that are FODMAP approved called Casa de Santa online. Anyway I would guess it’s the garlic and onions to start.
Thanks Suzette! I appreciate that input and will definitely look into it!