Super easy pad thai

April 25, 2011 in food, healthy by Jessica | 1 comment

I’ve been in a total funk lately. Uninspired to do much other than work and pay bills.

So, to get me back in the game, I give you this super easy recipe for pad thai. Pad thai is one of my favorite dishes to order out, and now I can whip it up at home when I get a craving!

Easy pad thai
From the Ultimate Peanut Butter book

8 oz dried rice noodles
1/3 cup chunky natural peanut butter
1/4 cup fish sauce
2 tbsp hoisin sauce
2 tbsp rice vingar
2 tbsp sugar
1 tsp chili paste
2 tbsp peanut oil
4 medium scallions, cut into 1 inch pieces
4 medium garlic cloves, minced
1 pound medium shrimp, peeled and devained
1/4 pound bean sprouts
1/4 cup packed fresh cilantro leaves, chopped
2 tbsp lime juice

Cook noodles according to package directions. Set aside until ready to use.

In bowl, whisk together peanut butter, fish sauce, hoisin, rice vinegar, sugar and chili paste until creamy. Set aside.

Heat large nonstick pan over medium-high heat. Add oil, wait a few moments, then add the scallions. Stir-fry until slightly softened, about 1 minute. Add garlic and stir-fry until fragrant – about 15 seconds. Add shrimp and stir-fry until pink, then add bean sprouts and cook for 1 minute.

Pour in prepared peanut sauce then prepared, drained noodles. Toss and cook until bubbly, about 1 minute, then add cilantro and lime juice just before you dish.

My suggestions: You can use regular peanut butter – that was all I had – but you may want to cut back on the sugar. This seemed really sweet to me. I also left out the chili paste since I didn’t have any and I’m not big on heat/spice. Otherwise, this was awesome.