Colorful Phad Thai

I lived in Thailand for a year-and-a-half as a missionary for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints and loved my time there. I fell in love with the friendly, fun people and fell in love with their food. They truly are some of the best people on earth and their food is the BEST! I learned the basics of cooking with Thai flavors from my native friends while I was there, which helped me get better at preparing it when I returned home. 

When I first came home, many people told me that they had heard that Thai food is mostly vegetarian. I was surprised at their comments because nearly all Thai dishes have meat. Plus, they use fish sauces in almost everything. When I decided to go plant-based, I learned how to make Thai food without all of the meat. However, I still use the fish sauce. It honestly tastes so good and really makes the dish authentically Thai. So, now I enjoy the ‘mostly’ vegetarian dish. But, feel free to leave out the fish sauce to make it Vegan.

This recipe has a lot of added vegetables! These can be omitted or replaced as desired. Other vegetables that work well are sugar snap peas and edamame.

Go ahead and use peanut butter that you made yourself for this recipe! It has an added crunchy texture that tastes amazing!

How to Make Colorful Phad Thai

Equipment Needed:

Large pot and Colander

Glass baking dish

Food processor

Large mixing bowl

Chef knife and Cutting board

Large mixing spoon

Lemon squeezer

Instructions:

Cut the tofu into small chunks. In a glass baking dish, add the coconut aminos and fish sauce. Add the tofu and then stir to coat all of the tofu with sauce. Bake in the oven at 400 degrees for 30 minutes to crisp.

Boil the rice noodles according to package instructions. Boil until al dente and a little chewy. If boiled for too long, they get mushy. Drain and set aside. Allow to dry slightly.

Shred the carrots, zucchini, and cabbage. Cut the pepper into thin strips or small pieces. Chop the cilantro. Add all to a large mixing bowl.

For the sauce, grate the ginger and remove the garlic from the skin. Juice the lime. Add all ingredients into a food processor and blend on high until a smooth dressing forms. Add more water if necessary. 

Add the rice noodles and tofu to the mixing bowl with the vegetables and stir to combine. 

Add the sauce to the noodles and vegetables and stir thoroughly to coat evenly. 

Top with mung bean sprouts, green onion tops, extra lime wedges, extra cilantro, and Sriracha sauce.