The first time I tried Pad Thai, I was on vacation with a friend in Hawaii. I didn't know anything about Thai food, all I knew was I was hungry and it was feeding time. I dove right in to the Pad Thai and fell in love straight away. For the longest time after that experience, I couldn't help but order Pad Thai each and every time I went out to Thai food. I simply wasn't interested in anything else.
A couple of months ago, I made Last Minute Sesame Noodles from Aggie's Kitchen. The recipe turned out wonderfully, and it got me to thinking. About how much I love Pad Thai. Being as it is still spring and there's so many vibrant vegetables in season, I thought I'd make a vegetarian spring vegetable Pad Thai. I made a lot of changes to the sauce and a few veggie additions and substitutions to create what was one of the loveliest Thai take-in meals I've made to date!
Traditionally, Pad Thai contains scrambled egg, bean sprouts, chicken or shrimp. In order to make this a vegetarian meal, I left all the animal protein out. I love adding fresh vegetables to all of my meals, so what would normally be a meat and noodle-centric dish became a vibrant and healthful meal.
Do you love peanut sauces? You'll love the sauce for this Pad Thai. It's simple and straight forward, but has so much flavor. The crunch of the fresh vegetables in combination with the flavorful noodles makes for a very palatable and healthful meal. Plus, this meal comes together very quickly! You can make it any night of the week and take the leftovers to work for lunch.
While I've made this meal vegetarian, you can add chicken or shrimp if you like. The sauce works with either of those proteins easily. And, if you like things with a little heat, don't be afraid to add a bit of red chile.
If you love Thai food as much as I do, don't miss Katie's Thai Red Curry Chicken with Green Beans. If you're just looking for a yummy side to this meal, Red Lobster Biscuits will hit the spot.
Spring Vegetable Pad Thai Recipe
Ingredients
- 14 ounces pad thai rice noodles, or rice noodles of choice
- 1 yellow bell pepper, thinly sliced
- 1 carrot, shredded
- 3 cups red cabbage, thinly sliced
- 2 cups edamame, shelled
- 6 spears asparagus, chopped - you'll cook them with the rice noodles and soy beans
- 2/3 cup liquid aminos, or soy sauce
- 1/4 cup sesame oil
- 2 tablespoons creamy peanut butter
- 1 teaspoon ginger, peeled and grated (fresh)
- sesame seeds
- fresh cilantro, chopped
- soy sauce, to taste
Directions
- Add all ingredients for the sauce to a small blender and blend until smooth. Set aside.
- Bring a pot of water to a boil and add the rice noodles.
- Allow the noodles to cook until softened, about 8 to 10 minutes.
- 6 minutes in to cooking, add the shelled edamame and the chopped asparagus to the hot water in order to cook the vegetables (you want to leave the asparagus al dente and not over-cook it). Note: if you aren't using Pad Thai rice noodles, follow the instructions on your package of rice noodles
- Strain the vegetables and noodles into a colander and immediately place in a large serving bowl.
- Add the remaining vegetables, pour the sauce over everything and toss together.
- Add salt and soy sauce (or liquid aminos) to taste.
Notes
- Liquid aminos have a similar flavor to soy sauce. You can replace the liquid aminos with low-sodium soy sauce.
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