Pad Thai

Veggie Pad Thai

I have never attempted to make Thai Food before this. I was in my local 365 and I saw this lovely looking box of organic rice noodles. I had a bunch of leftover veggies from other recipes to use up and I thought what if I try to make Pad Thai?

The directions on the box of noodles said to boil for 3 minutes, well, 3 minutes was WAAAYYY too long for these noodles and they turned a little mushy on me. So, if I make this again, I'll likely just go for the cheap noodles instead. Because my noodles wouldn't hold this dish wound up being more like a rice noodle stir fry and all sort of was mixed together at the end rather than having the veggies served on top like you would normally receive in your Thai Food takeout box. Alas, it was still a very tasty Pad Thai base. I say base because I had so many leftover veggies to use I didn't bother putting in any tofu or shrimp.

However, the flavor of this recipe was nice enough and easy to throw together that it could easily have accepted tofu or shrimp on top. The traditional recipes tend to call for tamarind or oyster sauce. I did try one version with oyster sauce and it was overpowering. I didn't have any tamarind on hand so I just used what was in my cupboard. So, I wouldn't exactly call this an authentic recipe, it is plenty good enough.

Ingredients:

2 Tablespoon Rice Wine Vinegar

2 Tablespoon Low Sodium Tamari (Soy Sauce can be used, but it is not gluten free)

1/2 Tablespoon Oyster or Fish Sauce if you eat seafood (There are vegan fish sauce options around)

2 Tablespoon of brown sugar

1 Tablespoon of Chili Paste (more or less depending on spice preference)

Juice from half of a lime

1 Tablespoon Vegetable Oil

3 Scallions, sliced and separated

2 Cloves of garlic, minced

1 Cup of carrots, matchsticks

1 Red Pepper, (because I had some in the fridge) julienned

2 eggs

8-12 oz rice noodles

1/4 cup peanuts chopped

1 - 2 cups of bean sprouts rinsed

2 limes cut into wedges

Parsley

Directions:

1. Stir the sauce ingredients together and set aside.

2. Heat Wok over medium high heat. Add tablespoon of vegetable oil and allow to warm. Add half scallions, garlic, Red Pepper and Carrots and allow to soften. Add protein if using. Move veggies and protein to the sides of the pans. Add a little more oil and then add the whisked eggs to the pan and allow to scramble.

3. Boil noodles just until finished. Drain and rinse under cold water to cool and stop cooking.

4. Add sauce to wok and toss. Add Noodles and allow to be coated with sauce.

5. Garnish with peanuts, sprouts, chopped parsley, and lime.