Super Easy Pad Thai
Before finals, my friends Susie and Tyler came over to prepare for our french oral exam together. Finals have been a huge shock to my system, and not surprisingly, I got sick this week. Being back in school means more germs, more stress, and more late hours. All of which means I was susceptible to catching something. I have managed to avoid sickness all semester, and it’s disappointing that it hit me now, but it could always be worse! Pad Thai made it better…well, most of the way.
Thai food is probably my biggest comfort food. If someone asks me where I want to eat, I nearly always say Thai. In Pittsburgh, that’s Thai Tamarind and in Chicago, I’m still searching for a go-to, so please hit me with some recommendations!
Fortunately, I live within walking distance to a whole foods, so it was no sweat to pick up the ingredients I needed for some Pad Thai. I’m going to share with you the bare bones recipe, and what I chose to throw together last Saturday, so you can tweak it for your preference! I will say though— the green onion is a game changer!
RECIPE (serves 4-5)
16 oz of brown rice noodles
14 oz of extra firm tofu
three eggs
bundle of green onion
one large head of broccoli (chopped)
1/4 cup soy sauce
1 cup teriyaki sauce
This is the bare bones/what I did on Saturday, but if I had a little more time, I would have made the sauce with brown sugar, peanut sauce, lime juice, and soy. I subbed store-bought teriyaki sauce, and it worked just fine though!
Directions:
Preheat your oven to 350 degrees.
Press your tofu. I cut it into three thinner bricks and used copious amounts of paper towels to get all the excess water from it. It tastes so much better when you get it super dry!
Throw your chopped broccoli in the oven with olive oil, salt, and pepper on a baking sheet. Let bake for 20 minutes or until lightly browned.
Heat some oil in large nonstick skillet. I used canola, because I knew I would be getting the pan hot, and olive oil evaporates quicker. Use whatever you have on hand.
Cube your tofu, and toss it in the hot pan! Pan-fry all sides until they are golden brown. This will take about 7-8 minutes each side.
Boil the amount of water required for your brown rice noodles. It should tell you on the package, and most noodles vary. Keep an eye out though, because rice noodles cook quickly!
Make your sauce. I mixed the teriyaki and soy together in a bowl, but you could do this with whatever your sauce ingredients are.
Chop the green onion and set aside.
Throw three scrambled eggs into the skillet with the tofu, once the it looks crispy. The eggs should only take a few minutes. Lower heat once they have cooked.
Strain the noodles, and put them in the skillet with the eggs and tofu. Add in your oven roasted broccoli. Immediately toss with your sauce.
Remove from heat, and plate. Top with green onion.
Substitutions/Additions: You can roast any other veggies with the broccoli you may like. I recommend red peppers or carrot ribbons. Crushed peanuts are super yummy on top too if you have them! You can sub the protein for anything other than eggs or tofu. Pad Thai is great, because it can be made vegan or vegetarian, and it’s dairy-free!
