This colorful romaine salad is filled with crisp veggies, and blood orange for sweetness. It has plenty of crunch from shredded cabbage and peanuts.
It’s finished with tangy peanut dressing. Vegan and gluten free.
This vibrant green salad with peanut dressing is full of bright flavors and textures.
- A base of romaine lettuce and shredded cabbage mix
- Hydrating veggies like cucumbers, bell peppers, and celery
- Enveloped in a creamy peanut dressing
- And a handful of peanuts on top for added crunch
Because of the citrus and tangy dressing, it has similarities to a couple of restaurant salads.
It is reminiscent of the Thai crunch salad sold at California Pizza Kitchen, or Wolfgang Puck’s Chinese chicken salad. (Obviously there’s no chicken in this vegan recipe, though!)
It’s a quick, fresh, and easy salad that’s a guaranteed crowd pleaser. Your family will love it!
Enjoy it as a side dish. Or have it as a full meal by adding edamame, grilled tofu, or vegan chick’n.
Step by step instructions
Here are the ingredients you will need for this flavorful salad.
In a big salad bowl, combine chopped romaine lettuce, blood oranges, celery, cucumber, bell pepper, and shredded cabbage mix.
(I buy my cabbage mix at Trader Joe’s. It’s one of my favorite vegan Trader Joe’s products.)
Make a batch of peanut salad dressing by mixing:
- Peanut butter
- Toasted sesame oil
- Rice vinegar
- Sriracha
- Tamari soy sauce
- Water
- Salt
Drizzle the peanut dressing over the salad.
Finish with a garnish of peanuts.
Make it your own
You can easily make this salad your own by varying the ingredients.
Almost any of the ingredients can be swapped out or omitted.
- Replace romaine with iceberg lettuce, butter lettuce, spinach, or a lettuce mix.
- Instead of blood oranges, use standard navel oranges, tangerines, clementines, or mandarin oranges. (Even canned mandarin oranges would work here!)
- Instead of using bagged shredded cabbage mix, shred green or purple cabbage by hand.
- Use orange, yellow, or red bell peppers.
- Add edamame or seitan chicken for protein.
- For more deliciousness, add sliced or cubed avocado and/or green onions.
- If you’d prefer a dressing with no oil added, use peanut sauce instead.
- For even more crunch, add crunchy chow mein noodles on top.
What to serve with it
This simple salad would be a delicious side dish or starter with any of the following:
Green salad with blood oranges & peanut dressing
Ingredients
- 1 bunch romaine chopped (about 4 cups)
- 3 blood oranges chopped (about 1 cup)
- ½ cup sliced celery
- ½ cup chopped cucumber
- ½ cup chopped bell pepper yellow, orange, or red
- 1 cup shredded cabbage mix or hand-shredded cabbage
- 1 recipe peanut salad dressing
- ¼ cup peanuts
Instructions
- Combine chopped romaine, blood oranges, celery, cucumber, bell pepper, and cabbage mix in bowl.
- Drizzle with peanut salad dressing.
- Finish with a garnish of peanuts.
Susan
I always keep an eye out for blood oranges when it is their season, and it is heading into their season shortly. This looks like a great refreshing winter salad.
Cadry Nelson
Thanks, Susan! I hope blood oranges show up on your store shelves soon.
David
Yum yum yum!!! I love peanut dressing, and adding in the blood oranges makes this salad extra delicious.
Cadry Nelson
I’m so glad you enjoyed it!