Easy Pad Thai

Easy Pad Thai

Time-consuming recipes both intrigue and challenge me, but I tend to gravitate towards easy, everyday ingredients type of recipes. The Easy Pad Thai recipe reflects my mantra of cooking: easy and delicious. I look back on the time when I decided to go vegan. I moved from New York City to the beautiful small town of Monterey, MA. The town had no supermarket, so I did my grocery shopping at a supermarket in the next town over. I remember one time I decided to challenge myself and walk there. I had no driver’s license back then. It took me almost four hours, but I did it! Enough of that, go to your kitchen and make this recipe. 

Cheers! 

The cabin I lived in on the right. I miss it! 

Easy Pad Thai

Ingredients

8-oz package rice noodles of choice

1 tablespoon toasted sesame oil or vegetable oil

3 green onions, roughly chopped

2 garlic cloves, minced

1 teaspoon freshly grated ginger

1 chili pepper, sliced and deveined (optional)

1 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes (optional)

1 cup of vegetables of choice (I used 8-oz can bamboo shoots and 8-oz can water chestnuts. Both were sliced, drained and rinsed.)

Bean sprouts for garnish (optional)

Chopped peanuts for garnish (optional)

Sauce Ingredients

4 tablespoons tamari sauce (soy sauce may be substituted, but it won’t be gluten free)

2 tablespoons peanut butter (I used smooth, unsalted peanut butter)

3 tablespoons sweet chili sauce (found in the Asian aisle of your supermarket)

1 tablespoon freshly squeezed lime juice

Directions

Prepare the rice noodles according to package directions. Drain and rinse with cold water to prevent from further cooking. Set aside.

While the rice noodles are cooking, preheat a large pan on medium heat. Add toasted sesame oil and sauté green onions and vegetables of choice for 5-7 minutes. Add garlic, ginger, chili pepper (if using) and crushed red pepper flakes (if using). Continue cooking for two minutes and stir continuously. Add a splash of water to prevent from sticking if necessary. Add the cooked rice noodles and pan-fry them for about two minutes. I like my noodles crunchy, so I leave them in the pan for about 6 minutes and then add the sauce.

Make the sauce while pan-frying the rice noodles. In a medium bowl, whisk tamari, peanut butter, sweet chili sauce, and lime juice. Turn off the heat and add the sauce to the noodles. Garnish with peanuts and bean sprouts.

*Note

If using raw broccoli or carrots as your vegetable choice, be sure to steam them first prior to adding to the noodle base.