Veg*n Cooking and Other Random Musings: Vegan Pad Thai

Tuesday, January 15, 2008

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!

4 comments:

primaryconsumer said...

Hi! Thanks for the nice words on my blog, sorry it took so long to get back to you. I'm not sure how to link to comments, but maybe you can just link to the post and tell people to look in the comments? (I'm sure you've figured that out already). Or, you can just post the recipe on your blog!

Lizzy said...

Hey!
Your dinner looks delish, I love bean sprouts. I could eat it them plain from a wok =p
Anyway, I randomly found your blog and I love the recipes you post. Just wanted to let you know I'll add you to my blog =)

Ruby Red said...

I like your Pad Thai recipe! Bookmarking now.

J said...

Primary Consumer - I posted about your tofu sour cream and just said it was in the comments section and linked to your old blog. I figure that covered it. Thanks again for providing such an easy wonderful recipe. It has taken our meals to another level of yumminess!

Lizzy - Thanks for the kind comments. I will be checking out your blog as well.

Ruby Red - Awesome, you'll have to let me know if you like it!