It’s strange. I don’t like peanut butter, but a good spicy Thai peanut sauce is one of my favorite things. I love it drizzled on just about everything and I discovered that it is a fabulous flavor pair with spinach. This recipe is re-worked to make it low-glycemic and vegan this time around and for the May vegan recipe challenge – SOS (a.k.a Sweet or Savory) - by Ricki of Diet, Dessert and Dogs and Kim of Affairs of Living. We agree with these two fabulous food bloggers: spinach is one of the healthiest things you can put in your mouth – calorie for calorie dark greens have the most nutrients of any food! We should all eat it every day!

I always had trouble making good peanut sauce until it finally dawned on me: to have really good Thai peanut sauce, you must start with really good peanut butter. It was one of those “Duh” moments for me!  It is a little more expensive, but you only use a little and it is well worth it. I like the all-natural “dark roasted” style with only two ingredients: salt and peanuts. I made this recipe with the idea of serving it cold on salads, so it is more like a vinaigrette than a sauce you would serve warm with chicken. I must admit that I tried to mimic Trader Joe’s Peanut Vinaigrette, which is also good BUT mine turned out even better – fresher tasting and more of a flavor punch!

I very lightly and briefly sauteed some rough chopped spinach for less than a minute until it just barely started to wilt. You could also blanch it quickly in boiling water. I then drained it and drizzled it with peanut vinaigrette, and sprinkled it with some diced roasted peanuts. Wow! Such an explosion of flavors!

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