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.