Plant Based Pad Thai

Noodles are one of the greatest culinary treasures around in my humble opinion. They cook fast, are incredibly versatile and if you choose the right one you can actually help your diet, health or weight loss goals.

Of course I won’t pretend that my love of noodles is all about health because it’s mostly about…carbs. And the fact that I am a sucker for an Asian flavored dish with noodles. The town we live in has just one real Asian restaurant and honestly, it’s fast food Asian and only good if you’re in a bind or feeling extra lazy. So if I want some delicious vegan Pad Thai, I have to make it myself.

This is a fairly easy dish to make and if you take care of your prep early (as in prepare it) the time will fly by even quicker.

I did a little something different with this one, adding scrambled tofu to the mix to give it another depth of flavor.

Grab your favorite vegetables to get started. I used:

Napa cabbage
Bell pepper (red & green)
Onions
Scallions
Firm tofu
Garlic
Ginger
Flat whole wheat noodles
Soy Sauce

First you want to take the tofu and crumble it up with your fingers or a fork, usually a combination of both works well together. It will look like scrambled eggs in texture and once you add turmeric, garlic granules, salt & black pepper it’ll look exactly like that. Cook it in a dry skillet that is nonstick or has been seasoned properly. Don’t start moving the tofu around right away, let the sizzle start and then push it around the pan. If it cooks too quickly add a teaspoon or two of almond milk (unsweetened) and keep going until it looks like the above photo and set aside.

Then move on to the Thai peanut sauce!

The base is scallions, chopped peanuts and red pepper flakes. Then I added soy sauce, rice wine vinegar and a pinch of brown sugar because I added about a tablespoon of Sriracha. This is optional but I promise you’ll love it drizzled over the top of your vegan Pad Thai.

Cook the veggies, starting with those that have the longest cook time down to the shortest cook time, which means adding the Napa cabbage last because it only needs a few minutes and you want it to retain that delicious crunch!