Gado Gado with Satay Sauce

I love this Indonesian salad. Gado gado literally means ‘mix mix’, and everything tastes better with a good dollop of satay sauce, right? It’s great as a vegetarian dish (omit the fish sauce), or for meat eaters you could add some grilled chicken or lamb. I’ve barbecued the vegetables for this version because it’s so easy to do in summer, and is just the ticket for dining al fresco. But you can use whatever seasonal vegetables you have on hand, and enjoy this meal any time of the year.

Makes: 4 serves
Takes: 15 minutes to prep; 25 minutes to cook

Vegetarian | Dairy-free | Gluten-free 

Ingredients: 

Satay sauce
1 cup unsalted peanuts

2 teaspoons rice bran oil

1 clove garlic, finely chopped

1 small fresh red chilli, finely chopped
2 teaspoons brown sugar

1⁄2 teaspoon turmeric

1 x 400ml can coconut milk

1 teaspoon soy sauce

1 teaspoon fish sauce

1 teaspoon lime juice

Gado gado
200g green beans, trimmed

2 zucchini, thickly sliced

1 eggplant, sliced into 1cm rounds

1 red capsicum, cut into thick strips

1 yellow capsicum, cut into thick strips

2 red onions, cut into wedges (keep roots intact)
1 head cauliflower, cut into florets

1⁄3 cup rice bran oil

salt and freshly ground black pepper

1 cup mung bean sprouts
1 cos lettuce, finely shredded

2 hard-boiled eggs, peeled and quartered
handful fresh coriander leaves

Method: To make the satay sauce, place the peanuts and oil in a frying pan over a medium heat. Cook for 3–4 minutes, stirring often, until golden. Drain off and discard the oil. Put the hot peanuts in a food processor with the garlic, chilli, brown sugar and turmeric. Blitz until roughly chopped and then scrape back into the pan. Stir in the coconut milk, and soy and sh sauces. Cook over a very low heat for about 20 minutes, stirring occasionally, until thickened. Remove from the heat. Stir in the lime juice and taste, adding more lime juice, chilli or sugar as needed. Heat your barbecue grill plate to hot.

For the Gado gado, blanch the beans in boiling water for 3 minutes until just cooked. Refresh in ice-cold water, drain and set aside. Drizzle the zucchini, eggplant, red and yellow capsicum, red onion and cauli ower with rice bran oil and season with salt and pepper, tossing gently to coat. Spread out the vegetables on the barbecue and, turning regularly, cook for 10–15 minutes or until tender and chargrilled. Remove as they are done, and keep warm.

Place the grilled vegetables on a platter. Spoon over the satay sauce and top with green beans, bean sprouts, lettuce and hard- boiled eggs. Sprinkle with coriander leaves to finish.