Wednesday, June 16, 2010

Pad Thai & 3 Years of Blogging

I keep on missing my blog birthday! About three years ago on June 3, I started this blog. Who knows how long I'll continue blogging for but I still love it and I'm so happy to be part of the food blog world.


I love pad thai and while I'm not going to be crazy and say that I've found the perfect recipe, this one comes as close as any recipe I've tried. I'm sure we all have some preferences about whether we want it more wet or dry or tomatoey or not. But this one is just right for me. The important parts of pad thai for me are that it's got enough tomato, extra lime before serving, and crunchy peanuts. If you have a good pad thai recipe, please share it with me - I'd love to test it against this one!

Jacqueline of Tinned Tomatoes has started a new blog called The Food Blog Diary to keep track of what food events are going on, which I know I'll find really helpful because I always seem to be finding out about things too late! So go check it out.


Some of you might recognize Abby's newest "toy" - the cat emery board, as seen on TV. We bought it from one of those stores that sells all the stuff from infomercials naively hoping that it would actually help keep her claws trimmed. Sadly she's barely used it, but she did enjoy the toy that was stuck into the side of it, which you can see her playing with here.

If this sounds good, you might also like:
Tofu and Broccolini in Peanut Sauce
Szechuan Tofu Triangles in Triple Pepper Sauce
Fresh Pear and Curry Pasta
Peanut Sauce

Pad Thai
Adapted from ExtraVeganZa

Serves 5-6

2 tbsp rice vinegar
5 tbsp reduce sodium soy sauce
4 tbsp maple syrup
1 1/2 tbsp peanut butter
1/4 cup ketchup

1 1/2 tbsp olive oil
1 lb firm tofu, cut into small cubes
3 cloves garlic
2 tbsp grated ginger
1/2 tsp chili flakes
1/2 tsp salt
2 cups carrots, sliced (original recipe uses sweet potato which take too long to cook)
1 red pepper, diced
1 broccoli crown
1 cup (1 can) water chestnuts, sliced
1/2 lb rice noodles, cooked and drained

2 tbsp lime juice, freshly squeezed (plus more for serving as desired)
2/3 cup peanuts, toasted and chopped
1/4-1/2 cup green onions, finely chopped

In a small bowl, combine the rice vinegar, soy sauce, maple syrup, peanut butter and ketchup. Stir together thoroughly and set the sauce aside.

In a wok, add olive oil and saute the tofu, garlic, ginger, chili, salt and carrots for several minutes, stirring frequently to prevent them from sticking to the pan. When the carrots begin to soften, stir in the red pepper, broccoli and water chestnuts. Continue sauteeing for several minutes, then pour in the prepared sauce and cooked noodles. Gently stir the noodles into the vegetables and sauce. Remove from heat and add the lime juice. Garnish with toasted peanuts and green onions.

21 comments:

Anonymous said...

Happy blogiversary!

Kristin (Book Sniffers Anonymous) said...

Congrats on your three year blogging anniversary. Pad Thai is my absolute favorite! I can never make it at home because I don't have tamarind sauce available. I love that you make your own sauce.

Joanne said...

Happy blogiversary chica! This pad thai looks delicious....I'm always trying to find a good recipe that doesn't involve shrimp!

Jacqueline Meldrum said...

Happy Blog Birthday Ashley! I love the recipe, a good one to bring in the next year. Thank you for the mention, much appreciated :)

fresh365 said...

Happy 3 years! I love, love, love pad thai and am always trying different recipes. Looks great, thanks!

Anonymous said...

Happy anniversary. I love pad thai as well. I will have to try yours, the best one I have found was from Canadian Living. I found it from that show they have out right now, Best Recipes Ever. If your interrested, check out the website.

Anonymous said...

Congratulations on 3 years! This recipe looks delicious. I have yet to try making pad thai but it's definitely one of my favorite things to eat!

Dana said...

Happy anniversary! Three years is HUGE - especially with all you have going on. I'm glad you are still loving it because there are so many of us who love reading your posts. I haven't made Pad Thai at home in a long time - since the death of my wok. I miss it though since I find all restaurant renditions too greasy. Yours looks perfect.

Sara said...

Happy Belated Blog Birthday! :)

saveur said...

Happy anniversary! I love your blog and hope you continue it for a long time! :)

I am always on the look out for a new pad thai recipe as well and this looks great. Not sure about the water chestnuts though. I also like to add tamarind. Never added ketchup before!

Cookie baker Lynn said...

Happy Blog Birthday! Your blog just keeps getting better and better. The Phad Thai looks yummy. I've never had it with tomatoes in it, so I'm sure my recipe isn't one you'd want to fool around with.

Love the kitty picture. It reminds me of buying big toys for kids and then all they want to play with is the box.

Hannah said...

Happy blogiversary! Here's hoping there will be many more to come. :)

Now I've made plenty of peanut noodles, but never pad thai. This recipe certainly sounds easy enough- Maybe I'll give it a shot next time.

grace said...

get after it, abby! :)
congrats on a milestone and an awesome recipe.

kickpleat said...

Congratulations!! And the pad thai looks amazing. I've never been successful in pad thai making, so I'll try this version out.

Ellen said...

if you want to make authentic pad thai, this is the only recipe you'll need:
http://www.chezpim.com/blogs/2007/01/pad_thai_for_be.html

it's seriously some of the best pad thai i've ever had. try it!

Pam Walter said...

I'm not a "cat person" but Abby is just too cute for words! http://blog.sweetservices.com/sweetscandyblog/

Johanna GGG said...

happy blogiversary - am so glad you continue to post your wonderful recipes and Abby pics - have never heard of a cat emery board but love it (we bought zinc a cat scratcher she wouldn't use it, took it outside and she used it, brought it inside and she ignored it! Cats!!!)

As for pad thai - I love it but agree it is a personal taste thing! I found a great recipe late last year that I loved - it had tamarind paste that seemed to give me the flavour that I remembered from restaurant versions - it is at http://gggiraffe.blogspot.com/2009/11/recreating-pad-thai.html if you want to check it out. I love all the veg in yours and the maple syrup and peanut butter

Deborah said...

Happy belated blog birthday! I have never had pad thai - I'm ashamed to admit! My husband isn't big on thai food, but I should make this for myself anyway!

Anonymous said...

happy late blog bday! Don't worry I always miss mine too.

mrsLiz said...

I occasionally follow your blog and just saw your try at pad thai. It's so hard to get it right! After having street pad thai in Thailand, I couldn't find a substitute until I ran across Chez Pim's recipe--the closest thing ever to the real thing! You should give it a try sometime.

test it comm said...

Congrats on 3 tasty years! I look forward to more!