OKAY! I love Pad Thai, but had never attempted to make it until a few weeks ago. I looked at about 10 different recipes online and picked and chose what I liked to form my own. Feel free to toss in some meat instead of tofu for a non vegan but still healthy option!
My friends over at GoPicnic! have agreed to do a product giveaway for my blog! I’ll be posting on that this weekend, but the entry process is simple and you’ll win a sampler pack (probably not all vegan, but still all delicious!) of 6 of their products that they’ll mail to you! Stay tuned for details on that, you won’t want to miss it!
PAD THAI
Prep Time: 15 minutes
Cook Time: 20 minutes
Serves: 2-3 depending on portion size (great for leftovers!!!)
INGREDIENTS:
Package of Rice Noodles (I got mine from the Asian section of Bloomingfoods for less than $2)
4 Tablespoons Soy Sauce (more if desired)
Juice of 3/4 Lemon, Juice of 1/2 Lime
3 spoonfuls of Sunflower Seed Butter (feel free to use peanut butter, or other nut spread)
Squirt of Agave (feel free to use other sweetener but agave is vegan….remember, it’s strong!)
Dash of favorite oil
1 large white onion, sliced and chopped
5 cloves of garlic, minced
3/4 Block of Tofu
1-2″ piece of ginger, grated (I liked it super fine, and love ginger, use it to taste and feel free to mince if you like bigger chunks)
2 carrots, shredded (I used a veggie peeler to make mine super thin!)
1/4 cabbage, shredded (I used purple cabbage for some great color!)
1 small head of Steamed Broccoli
1 small package of fresh mung bean sprouts
Green Onion, sliced (I used about 3 strips sliced on a bias)
2 Sprays of Braggs Liquid Aminos
Sriracha, to taste
INSTRUCTIONS:
-Prepare the Noodles according to the package, drain, and set aside.
-In a medium sized bowl combine the soy sauce, lemon and lime juice, sunflower seed butter, and agave. Really mix it up! The seed butter will prove difficult in mixing so really use a fork to combine the ingredients to get those flavors going!
-In a wok or large pan stir fry the ginger, garlic, onion and tofu together with a splash of your favorite oil and some water. (I had avocado oil on hand but can imagine that Coconut oil would be supreme here, shame I was out, or sesame oil would work well too). I tried to go light on the oil here as I was using a heavier oil and didn’t want the tofu to really absorb a ton of it. Throw in a splash of soy sauce to help with the flavors. Do a nice squirt of Sriracha here to help the tofu absorb the flavors.
-Once these items are going steam the broccoli in a separate pot. Be sure to check the liquid level on your stir fry, adding more water if it starts to stick. Stir frequently.
-Once you’ve been cooking for a bit and the onions are starting to become clear and the tofu is starting to crumble a bit throw in your carrots, broccoli, and 3/4 of your bean sprouts. Mix it up and then add in your sauce mixture. Stir for a minute until the vegetables are coated and then add your noodles. They might be sticky so really work on breaking them up with the cooking spoon to get that nice thick sauce all mixed in. A nice unintended side-effect here was a lot of the tofu really crumbled up nicely so it wasn’t thick chunks. It actually looked a LOT like scrambled egg like you’d find in a traditional Pad Thai in a restaurant!
-Squirt in your Braggs and Sriracha and continue mixing until it’s all mixed in and to the level of spicy that you prefer.
-To serve, add the remainder of the raw sprouts on top along with the fresh green onions. Squeeze the juice of the remaining section of life over the top for some raw citrus flavor! I was so excited to take this picture and eat my dish I forgot to add the green onions and raw sprouts! Also you sadly can’t see any of the wonderful steamed broccoli in this picture, but my it was delicious and reheated excellently in a skillet for some amazing leftovers!
