30-Minute Vegetarian Pad Thai
30-Minute Vegetarian Pad Thai
During the week when I want something delicious, and tasty, yet not a lot of time to make, I usually run to the store, grab some tofu, rice noodles (stir fry/pad thai style) and a few veggies, and I'm all set to make this quick and easy weeknight dish! Not only is this dish delicious, but healthy too! It's gluten-free for anyone sensitive to gluten. Most nights I try and put something homemade on the table. Whenever I eat out, especially at Asian restaurants, my blood pressure spikes up. For someone who usually had pretty good blood pressure, I was surprised it shot up to a systolic blood pressure of 150 after eating at a local Japanese restaurant. This of course never happens when I make my Asian food from scratch using basic ingredients like my preservative-free, low-sodium soy sauce, all-natural fish oil, etc. I don't have crazy additives or preservatives in my home cooking and I always use olive oil. Most vegetable oils used in restaurants have inflammatory oils. Olive oil or avocado oil is always the best to use for staying healthy and fit...so they are staples in my home. Many times, the store is out of bean sprouts so I don't always add them to this dish, and without them, it still tastes delicious! I usually use the shredded carrots sold at Trader Joe's or Whole Foods to cut down on prep work. Thanks to how easy it is to grow green onions, I have a bunch of green onions growing in pots in my backyard!
The sauce is very easy to whip up in a few seconds. Just soy sauce, fish sauce, coconut sugar, rice vinegar and peanut butter for an extremely flavorful noodle dish that hits the spot when you are looking for Southeast Asian cuisine! Delicious! It is sweet and sour perfection and I wouldn't deviate much from this recipe when whipping up Pad Thai. You might be able to mix up the veggies a bit and add some cabbage or bell peppers in addition to carrots. Either way, this sauce makes the dish. And the best thing about this dish is the ingredients are pretty basic and can be found in your local grocery store so if you live in a place where certain ingredients are in short supply, that should not be a problem at all!
Ingredients
14 oz rice noodles (stir fry/pad thai style)
14 oz extra firm tofu
2-3 tbsp olive oil
1 cup cabbage (shredded) or bean sprouts
1 cup shredded carrots
4 cloves garlic, minced
2 eggs
1 cup green onions
1/2 cup cilantro
1 whole lime
1/2 tsp pepper flakes
1/4 cup chopped peanuts
Sauce Ingredients
3 tbsp soy sauce
2 tbsp fish sauce
1/4 cup coconut sugar
1 tbsp rice vinegar
1 tbsp peanut butter
Instructions
- Cook the noodles according to the package instructions. Drain and set aside.
- Cut tofu into cubes and pan fry in a large frying pan. Sear tofu for 2-3 minutes per side and transfer to a plate.
- In the same frying pan, add the cabbage or bean sprouts, carrots, and garlic. Cook for 3 minutes or until carrots soften.
- Whisk together the sauce while the veggies are cooking.
- Once the veggies are soft, push them to the side of the pan and crack both eggs into the pan, and scramble them. Then, combine eggs with veggies.
- Add tofu, drained noodles, green onions, cilantro, pepper flakes and sauce. Toss to combine. Squeeze a lime over the noodles.
- Plate the pad thai and top with additional cilantro, chopped peanuts, and a bit more lime if desired.
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