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Vegetable Pad Thai

Aside from Korean food, one of my other favorites is Thai food, particularly pad thai.  This all-veggie pad thai is my healthier take on it for the new year.  It’s not only delicious, it’s rather wholesome and I’ve been enjoying it several times a week for the past few months now.  I know that lots of folks have pledged to lose a few pounds as part of their new years resolution and it always makes me sad when I discover that friends or colleagues alike are practicing restriction to achieve their goal.  I’m here to urge you to lean towards a cleaner, more natural diet to maintain healthier balance.  My vegetable pad thai salad features a vibrant kaleidoscope of colors, flavors and textures.  I find that the trick to eating a variety of veggies is to pick those with vastly different tastes and textures to keep things interesting. Not only are you eating the rainbow here, you’re also picking up bold Thai flavors from its pad thai sauce that couldn’t be more simpler than blending up a handful of ingredients.

For your ingredients, you’ll be able to find most of these at your regular market with the exception of a few.  My hope is that one day, I’ll be able to pick up all my groceries in one place versus having to travel to several in one day to satisfy my needs but ah, I digress.  The most exotic picks from todays line up are shirataki noodles and tamarind paste though I found both of these from my local spot for todays recipe.  You may be able to find the tamarind paste in the international aisle and the shirtaki noodles next to the tofu in the chilled bin.  The shirataki noodles are made from the konjac yam that are naturally vegan and gluten free.  They’re often called “zero noodles” since they’re made of an indigestible fiber and have no carbs.  I don’t find them to taste of much and they have a light feel about them and since they’re pretty flavorless, it means that they can be used for as many things as you can create uses for.  An alternative to shirataki noodles would be kelp noodles that have a bit more texture/crunch.  Both are great, no-cook options.

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Tamarind paste is tart-sweet-fruity.  That’s the best way I can describe it.  I once took on the task of making my own paste and it took all of once to let that one go {it’s maddeningly sticky without much pulp within each shell and takes about a decade to extract enough for anything}.  It’s much easier to obtain a package of pure tamarind paste that’s fresh, soft and wet.  From there, you could turn it into a sweet and sticky glaze, a delicious marinade, unique candy or juice and even my vegetable pad thai!

5.0 from 3 reviews

Vegetable Pad Thai
 
Prep time

Total time

 

Bright, crunchy and wholesome with a piquant edge from a tangy, sweet and sour tamarind sauce.
Author:
Serves: 2 large salads

Ingredients
  • 2 carrots
  • 2 zucchini
  • ¼ purple cabbage
  • 1 red bell pepper
  • 2 cups sprouts {mung/bean/broccoli/alfalfa/etc}
  • 2 cups shirataki or kelp noodles
  • 1 cup cilantro
  • 3 scallions
  • Crushed nuts {pistachios/cashews/peanuts}
  • Black sesame seeds
  • 2 lime wedges
Sauce
  • 2 cloves garlic
  • 2 tb fresh, soft wet tamarind paste
  • 3 tb sugar
  • 1 ts Korean red pepper paste
  • 3 tb fish sauce
  • ½ c water

Instructions
  1. Prepare the vegetables to your liking. You can chop/spiralize/peel them. Arrange them as desired onto a plate.
  2. Blend everything for the sauce until smooth and emulsified. Pour on the dressing and garnish with nuts, sesame seeds and lime wedges.

 

 

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5 thoughts on “Vegetable Pad Thai

  • Louise says:

    Hi Angela:)
    A cleaner healthy diet is definitely one of my goals for the new year. I too have grown very fond of Thai food lately. My son has been taking me to lunch at a wonderful Thai place and I’ve considered trying to recreate some dishes at home.

    Your Vegetable Pad Thai sounds deliciously wholesome. I’m not familiar with the noddles but I’m sure the Asian market will have them.

    Thank you so much for sharing, Angela…

  • The Squishy Monster says:

    Thank YOU, Louise. Happy New Year!!

  • brian says:

    i was eating salad when u were making the salad. hahaha! Squishy is like greased lightning..it happen so fast, i took a bite of my salad and then u were done with making urs already!

  • The Squishy Monster says:

    I often like to moonlight as a ninja too =) Happy New Year, Brain!

  • thehautecookie says:

    are u serious?!?! this is my fave t dish and urs looks better than ANY SINGLE PAD THAI i have ordered at any restaurant! so so so amazing and now im drooling! please can u cook for me sometime? hehe yummmmm!

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