Urab Sayur – A Delicious Balinese Salad

On our last Bali retreat the group were lucky enough to take part in a cooking class! The food is always next level delicious and it was awesome to learn how to make a least a couple of the yummy dishes we were blessed to eat every day!  Whenever I come home from Bali, I’m motivated and inspired to continue with healthy predominantly plant based meals.  What I love about our retreat meals is the variety. Every meal is a delicious spread of 6 – 8 dishes. One is always rice. Then there’s 1 – 3 salads, 2-3 warm vegetable dishes and and 1-2 tofu/tempeh dishes. It’s impossible not to to go back for seconds, because the dishes are all so light and delicious! We always end with a little dessert and start with a soup.  Soup is a perfect starter to the meal as it warms the stomach and primes the digestive tract.  My favourite dishes are the crispy tempeh and vegetable salad known as Urab Sayur. I managed to make the salad on Sunday and it was so good! Plenty of it as well, so I can take it for my lunch during the week. Here’s the recipe from our class. Let me know if you make it!

Urab Sayur – Indonesian Vegetable Salad

Ingredients

• 5 shallots, sliced roughly
• 2 x garlic cloves
• 3 x thumb ginger sliced
• 1 x tumeric (finger size sliced)
• 1 x large red chilli chopped
• 2 tbspn Coconut milk
• Lemongrass – 10cm length – bruised
• Beans 600gm cut into 2cm long pieces
• 2 x carrots cut same as above
• 4 large handfuls spinach
• Freshly grated coconut
• Bean sprouts
• Juice of 1 lemon or lime
• Fried shallot

Method

1. Blend together the shallots, ginger, garlic, lemon grass, chilli, tumeric and coconut milk to make a paste.
2. Add oil to a pan and fry the paste until fragrant.
3. Add 1/2 teaspoon salt, 2 bay leaves and cook for another 2-3 minutes.
4. Steam the green beans, carrots and spinach.
5. Drain and cool.
6. Add all ingredients to a large mixing bowl with the bean sprouts and mix together.
7. Serve with a sprinkle of fried onions.