Vegan Pad Thai

Well, I believe I mentioned sometime last week that you should expect a lot of stir-fry posts this week, and as promised I am delivering. I have had really good luck cooking Asian recently, in the past I was always been a bit wary of cooking Asian at home as I felt like I wasn’t familiar enough with the flavors to create a tasty recipe, or at the very least to be able to figure out what’s missing if the recipe didn’t seem quite right. Now that I am more comfortable with Asian flavors, I just go out and get a recipe to use as a template so I can make it to Brett’s and my liking. This generally means making it sweeter since Brett is a sweet freak. If I always made things as sweet as he liked, I’m not sure he or I would have teeth anymore and I’m only 23!

I still have a few recipes I am planning on trying out this week and many other Asian recipes I plan on trying out at some point, but think next week I will go in a slightly different direction. I have been missing beans, as my protein source has been a lot of tofu, seitan, and nuts lately, so expect see some beanage (and probably more tofu as well).

So last night the menu was Vegan Pad Thai noodles. This was a really good recipe, it ended up being a little sweet, a little sour, a little savory, and a little spicy. Think we covered most of the types of flavors in this recipe? I thought this was very easy to make, which makes it perfect for a weeknight dinner (and you could take the leftovers to work if there are any). I made mine without, but some people put sliced tofu in their Pad Thai to give it more protein. The sauce I used had peanut butter in it and I put crushed peanuts on top so I figured we’d be fine on protein. I also made this a bit skimp on the veggies as I thought it would be fine on its own, but I bet it was also be good loaded with sautéed veggies as well. I might have to try it like that next time.

I can’t really attest to the authenticity of this, but overall I thought it was really good. And again, this is great when you don’t feel like spending a lot of time in the kitchen.

Vegan Pad Thai

2-3 cloves garlic, minced
diced onion
1 tbsp ginger, minced
1/4-1/2 cup shoyu (or other soy sauce)
juice of one lime
3-5 tbsp creamy peanut butter
couple dashes of red pepper flakes or cayenne pepper (or both!)
2-4 tbsp brown sugar (more or less depending on desired sweetness)
1 tbsp peanut oil
bean sprouts
crushed peanuts

Cook noodles according to packages directions.

Stir together soy sauce, lime, peanut butter, pepper flakes, and sugar.

In a skillet, heat peanut oil and sauté onions for a few minutes, then add garlic and ginger and sauté a few minutes more.

Serve sauce over hot, cooked rice noodles and lots of washed bean sprouts. Top with crushed peanuts.

That’s about all for now. I’m off to spend a nice, relaxing evening with Brett, the kitties, and some (hopefully) good food!