Pad Thai (Peanut Free)

Pad Thai is so good. The creamy sauce that coats the noodles has so much depth, and the rice noodles have a smooth texture that I love. We used to go out for pad thai, but with our son having a peanut allergy, we stopped going out to get it and learned to make it at home.

Wanting a peanut free version of pad thai for my son, and a vegan version for me, I got to work researching the traditional pad thai sauce ingredients. I also used the Cheater Pad Thai recipe from Happy Herbivore as a jumping off point, and after several changes settled on this recipe as our favorite. My husband placed it in my top two vegan recipes of all time! Woo-hoo, what cook doesn't love to hear that?

Pad Thai (Peanut Free)

This hilarious skit from Portlandia depicts a hilarious food allergy pride parade and one of the floats is a thai restaurant with the allergy land mine of pad thai.

Haha it cracks me up every time..... If you do not want or need to avoid peanuts, you can substitute peanut butter and peanuts for the Sunbutter and soy nuts in my recipe.

Ingredients:

8 ounces fresh or dry rice noodles (fresh are awesome if you can get them)

1 tsp sesame oil
2 cloves of garlic, minced
1 1/2 cups carrots, peeled and thinly sliced
1 1/2 cups cabbage, thinly sliced
8 oz seitan (or protein of your choice, tofu, tempeh, Gardein, etc.)

2 tsp fresh ginger, peeled and minced
4 tbsp soy sauce
4 tbsp Sunbutter
2 tsp agave nectar
2 tsp tamarind paste
1 tbsp chili garlic sauce

1/2 cup roasted soynuts
fresh cilantro, minced

Directions:

There are four steps to this recipe: start the noodles, prepare the veggies, mix the sauce, and assemble.

Start the water for the noodles, and prepare the noodles according to the package directions. The main thing is to be sure not to overcook them as they will get mushy. You want the noodles to have some texture and bite to them.

Heat the sesame oil in a non-stick frying pan over medium heat. Add the minced garlic and sauté for a minute or so, being careful not to let it burn. Thinly slice the carrots and the cabbage and add them to the pan. When the carrots and cabbage begin to soften a bit, push them to the sides of the pan and add the seitan to the middle of the pan to let it cook through.

While the seitan is heating, mix your sauce. Mince the ginger and put it in a measuring cup with the soy sauce, Sunbutter, agave, tamarind, and chili garlic sauce and whisk it all together.

When the noodles are done and the seitan is heated through on both sides, assemble the dish. Toss the noodles with the seitan and veggie mix and coat it all in the sauce. Serve with crushed roasted soy nuts and minced cilantro.

For 6 servings. Nutritional information from caloriecount.about.com.

Nutrition Facts

Serving Size 272 g

Amount Per Serving

Calories   351 Calories from Fat   94

% Daily Value*

Total Fat   10.4g 16%

Saturated Fat   1.8g 9%

Trans Fat   0.0g

Cholesterol   0mg 0%

Sodium   1385mg 58%

Total Carbohydrates   23.8g 8%

Dietary Fiber   6.8g 27%

Sugars   6.0g

Protein   35.9g

Vitamin A 124% • Vitamin C 19% Calcium 5% • Iron 8%

Nutrition Grade B-

* Based on a 2000 calorie diet