What’s in the Fridge? Peanut Free Vegan Pad Thai
I don’t know about you, but I am the queen of planning out meals, buying all of the ingredients, and not using all of it. Time after time this leaves perfectly good ingredients lying around the fridge desperately needing a meal to belong to.
Over the years, I’ve gotten pretty good about reading a recipe, deciding I like certain ingredients more or less than others, and adapting my meal to fit my tastes accordingly. Now, during quarantine 2020 due to COVID-19, that skill has grown ten-fold. Not only that, I’ve developed a knack (well, maybe more of a comfort with the idea rather than a true knack) for scouring the realm of extra ingredients and mixing up a meal thats to die for!
Okay, maybe not to die for… living life is pretty great (am I right?)! But those miscellaneous ingredients occupying my fridge now happily have a meal they can belong to, and I have a happy happy tummy.
With that, this Vegan Peanut Free Pad Thai was created from the extra goodness that appeared when I peeped to see “What’s in the Fridge?”.
It all started with the spaghetti squash we’d purchased during last weekend’s quarantine grocery escape but had failed to eat during the week. It was the first on my list of foods that needed to go before they go bad. Thus a noodle dish was born. But as I peered at the variety of pasta sauces lining the door (AJ and I can never agree on a type), none of them were striking my flavor fancy. So the hunt for something new began.
As I trolled the depths of Pinterest for spaghetti squash recipe ideas, everything was centered on “stuffed squash”, or “spaghetti squash with [insert sauce here]”. Nothing was hitting the spot. So I said forget about it, and started thinking on my toes to create an “on-hand” version of my favorite noodle dish with whatever ingredients we had on hand. Voila, our Vegan Peanut free Pad Thai was born.
Now, it seems trivial, but the peanut part is quite important. Thai food, especially Pad Thai, can be loaded with peanuts or some version thereof; and for peanut allergy sufferers like myself, thats a no no no. So here you have it! Our totally plant based, Peanut FREE, spaghetti squash Pad Thai.
Going into it, I know that Pad Thai has a protein, eggs, bean sprouts, garlic, noodles, and a scrumptious sauce. We didn’t have any bean sprouts, therefore we substituted with the variety of peppers we had. I added some jalapeño for spice, and the sweet peppers for that simple bean sprout like crunch. To make the sauce, I glanced at a recipe and quickly said “nope” when I didn’t have the ingredients.
Lucky for me though, 2 weeks ago when the quarantine boredom was first setting in, I reorganized the entire fridge, including the condiment chaos on the door, by category. So when I opened it up, I had an entire “asian” condiment section ready to go for the perfect DIY pad Thai.
Prior to living in Hawai’i I don’t think I would have ever known what some of the ingredients were (i.e. rice vinegar! Who knew?), let alone use them weekly. But now, after 3 years here and a continuously developing love for ALL asian cuisines, it would be awfully peculiar for any one of these sauces or condiments to be missing from my collection!
Together with the spaghetti squash noodles, miscellaneous peppers, our handy dandy tofu (a vegan fridge must have), the coveted “just eggs”, and my incredible condiment collection, the perfect quick and on hand meal was born. And let me tell ya, it was YUM!
So there ya have it folks! My first ever, public, “What’s in the Fridge?” creation! I hope this inspires you to try your own spin, think outside the box, or follow along with your favorite recipes. Wherever your comfort zone is, that’s right where it belongs!
Don’t forget to be kind and stay weird! Wishing you all the best with this recipe and the rest!
xoxo Cortney
Vegan Peanut Free Spaghetti Squash Pad Thai
Ingredients
Produce
- 1 Spaghetti Squash large
- 1 Jalepeno
- 5-6 Sweet Peppers
- 1 Thai Pepper
- 2 tbsp Cilantro chopped
- 2-3 tbsp Thai Basil chopped
- 1 Carrot large
- 5+ Cloves of Garlic
Baking + Spices
- 1/2 cup All Purpose Flour
- 2 tsp Chili Powder
- 2 tsp Garlic Powder
- 2 tsp Salt
- 1 cup White Vinegar
- 1 tbsp Sugar
- 1/2 cup Dairy Free Milk we used flax milk
Condiments
- 2 tbsp Almond Butter (or preferred nut/non-nut butter)
- 3 tbsp Rice Vinegar
- 2 tbsp Vegan Oyster Sauce
- 1-2 tbsp Sesame Oil
- 1 tbsp Agave Nectar
- 2:1 tbsp Olive Oil separated
Other
- 1 cup Water
- 1 Block Extra Firm Tofu
- 1/4 cup "Just Eggs" (or preferred egg substitute)
Tools Needed
- Oven
- Small Sauce Pan
- Large Skillet
- Potato Peeler
- Baking Sheet
Instructions
Pickled Carrots (prep)
- Ingredients: Large Carrot, 2 cloves Garlic, 1 C. White Vinegar, 1 C. Water, 1 tbsp Sugar
- Using the potato peeler, slice the carrots into thin strips over a medium sized heat safe bowl. Continue until you have used almost the whole carrot.
- Crush the cloves of garlic with your knife. Add to the bowl.
- In the saucepan, add the water, vinegar and sugar over medium/high heat. Stir to combine. Bring to a light boil to form the brine.
- Once the brine is boiling, remove from heat and carefully pour into bowl with carrot shreds and garlic. Make sure the carrots are completely submerged. Set aside.
The Squash (prep and cook)
- Ingredients: Spaghetti Squash, 1 tbsp Olive Oil, Sprinkle of Salt and pepper
- Preheat oven to 375
- Slice the Squash in half long ways.
- Use a Spoon to deseed the inside.
- Laying face up on your baking Sheet, drizzle the olive oil over both halves; sprinkle with salt and pepper. (may need to use some oil to coat your pan if it is not a non-stick pan)
- Flip the halves to be face down on the pan and roast at 375 for 15 minutes.
- Flip the halves to be face up and continue roasting at 375 for another 15 minutes.
- Once done, use a fork to shred the halves to create your "noodles"
Tofu (prep)
- Ingredients: Tofu, Dairy Free Milk, Flour, Chili Powder, Garlic Powder, Salt
- After pressing your tofu for at least 30 minutes (need to know how to press it? Click here) slice it into about 1 inch cubes.
- In a bowl, pour the 1/2 cup of dairy free milk.
- In a separate bowl, add the flour, garlic powder, chili powder and salt. Stir to combine.
- Carefully take a handful of your tofu cubes and toss them in the milk. Then toss them in the flour mixture. Shake off any extra flour as you remove them from the mixture and set aside.
- Repeat until all of your cubes are coated in both the milk and the flour.
Sauce (prep)
- Ingredients :Almond Butter, Rice Vinegar, Sesame Oil, Oyster Sauce, Agave
- In a bowl, combine the almond butter, rice vinegar, sesame oil, oyster sauce, and agave nectar. Stir until the almond butter is completely smooth and you've achieved a smooth even consistency.
- Do a quick taste test. Add more of any flavor to achieve desired taste. For a sweeter sauce, add more agave. For a saltier sauce, add more oyster sauce. For a tangier sauce, add more rice vinegar. For a bit more general flavor, add sesame oil.
Pad Thai
- Ingredients: Remaining Olive Oil, Battered Tofu, Jalapeño, Sweet peppers, Thai pepper, Cilantro, Thai basil, Just egg, GarlicAdd: Carrots, Squash "noodles", Sauce
- Thinly slice the jalapeño, sweet peppers, and Thai pepper. Be sure to avoid the seeds as that is where the majority of the spice can hide.
- Chop the garlic, cilantro and Thai basil.
- In your large skillet, heat 2 tbsp of olive oil over medium/high heat.
- Once the oil is hot, add all of your tofu cubes and gently toss around to coat all sides in the oil. Cook until the tofu is golden brown.
- Once the tofu is golden brown, push it to the edges of the skillet to create a ring. Inside of the ring, add the sliced jalapeño, sweet peppers, Thai pepper, and chopped garlic. Stir gently inside the ring until soft and slightly crisped. (approx. 3 minutes)
- Once desired crisp is attained, mix all together with the tofu then recreate your ring around the edge.
- In the center of the new ring, add the 1/4 cup of 'just egg' and immediately stir to scramble. During the scramble process, mix the 'egg' tofu, peppers and garlic all together.
- Add the chopped cilantro and Thai Basil.
- Using a fork or tongs, remove your pickled carrots from the brine and add to the pan.
- Add the "noodles" and sauce, and stir everything together to combine.
Things To Note:
- The combination process until takes about 15 minutes, so be sure to time the start of cooking the tofu right about the half way point for roasting the squash.
- I quickly sliced the peppers while the tofu was achieving its golden state and didn't actually prep them during the prep process.
- The sauce doesn't look like it will be enough, but it was the perfect amount for the whole pan to be evenly coated without leaving runny left overs.
- All of these ingredients were found in my home, either left over from other recipes, or common staples in our meals.
*Pictures coming soon*
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