January 8: Thai Inspired

I am not a huge fan of Thai food, mainly because I don't do spicy, but I have a favourite Thai restaurant. I go there for the bubble tea whenever I'm in Richmond, BC. If you don't know Richmond, you should. It's a lovely, green little city located on an island in the Fraser River Estuary. It's linked to Vancouver, the airport and the southern side of the river by several impressive bridges and a tunnel. In the last couple of decades, Richmond has become home  to more and more Chinese immigrants, and has become a "Little Hong Kong."  It's a fun place to live, full of parks and green spaces and Dim Sum restaurants. It's growing fast, but there are no really huge skyscrapers because the ground is too soft to support them.
Getting back to the salad; when I'm waiting for my bubble tea, I love watching the plates come out of the kitchen, each one with its pile of beansprouts and branches of fresh basil. That's why this dish is Thai inspired. I added sugar snap peas for extra crunch and grape tomatoes for colour (and because they're still on sale). I had it as a side dish for dinner, with some teriyaki pork (which is not Thai, but is at least on the right continent). I got the wolf berries from a Chinese grocer, where they are way cheaper than goji berries at a regular grocer, despite being the same thing.

Recipe:
toss together: Chopped fresh basil, bean sprouts, grape tomatoes, sugar-snap peas (cut off ends and halve), and a few dried wolf (goji) berries. Instead of dressing, serve with  a wedge of fresh lime. (Rats! I forgot to put my lime on the plate for the photo!)

Edit: I also put a little soy sauce on this, although I don't think it's particularly Thai.