Vegetarian Pad Thai
Do you ever get bored of having the same thing for dinner over & over again? Pasta with a tomato based sauce, pizza, more pasta, maybe some rice if you’re feeling adventurous, always the same dishes that you’re been making for years. Yeah, well, I got bored of that. Last week I decided to step ever so slightly out of the regular pattern of things & make a noodle dish for The Boyf & I : Vegetarian Pad Thai.
In the grand scheme of things, noodles aren’t all that different from pasta, but boy was I happy to have something different for once, something I’d never made before. Come to think of it, I have no idea why I’d never made Vegetarian Pad Thai before, it’s a recipe I’d had bookmarked for a while & it was super easy to make. Also, it’s delicious. & it’s made up of ingredients that you probably have in your kitchen right now, in fact I’d be shocked if you didn’t. See, there are no excuses not to make this for dinner one night. Who knows, it might even become one of your regular midweek meals. But then eventually you might get bored with it & then it’s time to look for a new meal to make & making dinner is clearly a vicious & unending circle of doom. Not to be dramatic or anything.
I think I got carried away slightly. I blame the rain. I think it’s time to wrap thing up before things get out of hand.
This meal is delicious. It’s comforting, it’s quick & simple to make, it’s tasty (did I mention that already?), it’s healthy, & who doesn’t love a good noodle dish? Especially one that’s topped with chopped up roasted peanuts. Also, you get to take pretty pictures using your new noodle bowls that have a special space for chopsticks! Wait, that’s just me? Oh..
Serves 2 (Adapted from Vicki Smallwood)
Ingredients
- 200g flat rice noodles
- ½ teaspoon sunflower oil
- 2 shallots, peeled & diced
- 2 cloves of garlic, finely chopped
- 2 spring onions, trimmed & cut into 1inch lengths
- 1 tablespoon soft brown sugar
- 2 tablespoons rice vinegar
- ½ teaspoon crushed chilli flakes
- 60ml warm water
- 150g carrots, peeled & grated
- salt & pepper, to taste
- 40g roasted peanuts, chopped roughly
Method
- Cook the noodles according to the instructions on the packet, then drain & leave to the side.
- In a large frying pan, heat the oil over a moderate heat & then add the shallots. When the shallots are softened, add the garlic & spring onions, cooking for a further 4-5 minutes.
- In a bowl, combine the sugar, rice vinegar & chilli flakes. Add 60ml of warm water to the mixture & then leave to the side.
- Add the carrots to the pan of vegetables & cook, stirring, for a further 4 minutes.
- Stir in the drained noodles & the rice vinegar mixture & stir around. Turn up the heat & stir fry for 4-5 minutes, until thoroughly heated throughout.
- Season to taste with salt & pepper & serve, sprinkling the chopped peanuts on top.