Vegan Pad Thai

   New Years Eve is always a great time to reflect upon the past year and to look forward to the next. It is also a time when most people saddle up to the take-out trough and sit at home and relax for a quiet night in. Which is exactly what we did. Minus the take-out trough.

   Originally, the idea was to get Thai take-out. But when I started thinking about how most dishes are mainly cheap noodles, brown rice and frozen veggies (but with really yummy sauce) which end up costing you $30 when it probably only costs about $10 in food materials..I started thinking about what I could really buy with that $30. So I decided instead to take that money and put it towards making my own healthier version of Pad Thai!



   However, sometimes I really am my own worst enemy. In breaking with tradition and seeking out a great food pairing combination, I decided to make my version vegan. That means zero fish sauce( a protein source-protein and starch i.e. brown rice noodles do not combine well and no egg (also a protein source). And although my husband wasn't too thrilled about the lack of either ingredients when I ran my recipe by him, he sure didn't seem to miss a beat when it came time to actually eat it.(It also could have been the fact that I used a whole cayenne pepper in this version and the man digs spicy.)


Update: I also forgot to mention why I steered away from the traditional peanut sauce and used almonds instead. Peanuts frequently contain a mold that creates aflatoxin that is a known carcinogen linked to cancer in lab rats. This is often due to the fact that peanuts have a soft shell and are more suspectible to mold than nuts with a hard shell. Also worth mentioning is the recent significant Peanut Recall that happened nationwide due to the contamination of salmonella. So please, do me a favor and drop the peanut butter. Especially for kids!


Recipe:

1 box brown rice noodles  (cooked according to directions on package)
2 Tablespoons Extra Virgin Toasted Sesame Oil
1 bunch green onions, white part and green parts chopped and separated
4 garlic cloves, minced
2 organic carrot stalks, sliced into strips with a vegetable peeler (or julienne)
1 green bell pepper, sliced into strips with a vegetable peeler (or julienne)
1 red bell pepper, sliced into strips with a vegetable peeler (or julienne)
1 cup organic broccoli sprouts

Sauce:

1 whole cayenne pepper (fresh or dried,I used dried from my CSA)
1/2 lime, freshly squeezed
1 Tablespoon Unsweetened Almond Butter (I used Whole Foods 365 brand)
1 Tablespoons Organic Tahini
4 Tablespoons Organic Coconut Sugar
1/2 teaspoon sea salt
1/2 cup filtered water

Toppings:

Green Onions
Roasted Almonds, chopped in a food processor
Toasted Sesame Seeds

Directions:

1.) Begin by cooking brown rice noodles according to directions on package
2.) In a saute pan, combine white part onions and garlic cloves with sesame oil until soft. Toss in carrots and red and green pepper. Saute on medium-high heat until tender.
3.) In a food processor combine ingredients listed above for sauce and blend well.
4.) Drain noodles and toss into saute pan with the vegetables. Top with sauce, organic broccoli sprouts, sesame seeds,green onion and chopped almonds.
5.) Dig in!