A Dash of Love: Pad Thai with Spaghetti Squash ~ Vegan

Vegan, Gluten-Free, Sugar-Free, Dairy-Free

The Navy has the hubs stationed in Hawaii for his very first duty station. We really didn't know what to expect, and we've definitely learned a TON going through our first PCS (permanent change of station) move. When you first get here you need to stay in a hotel until you can meet with the housing department (which takes forever. literally. Forever) and be assigned a place in military housing or find a place to live off-base (muy expensivo!). Anyway, while we were holed up in a hotel room with no kitchenette we got to explore the many different food options here! There's lots of unhealthy stuff and it's really hard to find vegan food, so I was a lot less strict on it during those 3 months. There is a really big Asian influence in the islands, and I absolutely fell in love with the Thai food here! For the first month we would just try out different Thai restaurants to find the best one in Oahu, and I finally settled on Olay's Thai food. They set up in different farmer's markets around the island each week, and I tried to get most of my food/produce from farmer's markets near Waikiki. Now that we are finally settled in a home (YAY) and I have to cook for us, I really wanted to re-create the yummy Thai taste without all the gluten/sugar/meat/fat that I knew was lurking in it. I happened upon a recipe at popsugar.com, and modified it to produce the recipe below. It's not exactly like Olay's, but it's vegan and still has that yummy Thai taste! This was my first time making this recipe, so we'll need to keep on experimenting with it.

According to renowned Thai chef Jet Tila, who is featured on the food network and this video here, Thai food is summed up by YUM - hot, sour, salty, sweet. When those flavors are perfectly balanced you get a true Thai dish. Thai food often uses fish sauce (which is basically the Thai version of soy sauce, so you can sub Braggs Liquid Aminos here) for the salty flavor, limes for the sour, chilies or a curry paste for the hot, and sugar for the sweet (obviously, sub with stevia or erithrytol). I tweaked the recipe below just a bit to incorporate a few more of these flavors, and the first thing Kenny said when he tasted the sauce was, "It tastes like Pad Thai" - SCORE!! I was so happy! Pad Thai is definitely an Asian comfort food, and I hope you enjoy this healthified version!

Recipe inspired by the Paleo Pad Thai recipe from Elana's Pantry featured on FitSugar.com

INGREDIENTS

1 medium spaghetti squash, seeds removed and cut into quarters (about 4 cups)
1 tablespoon coconut oil
1 medium red onion, finely chopped (about 1 cup)
1 head broccoli, chopped (about 2 cups)
2 heads baby bok choy, sliced crosswise into 1-inch strips (about 1 1/2 cups)
squeeze of lime
1 tsp. each garlic powder and organic herb seasoning
1 tbsp. Braggs Liquid Aminos (or fish sauce)
6 scallions, white and green parts thinly sliced (about 3/4 cup)
1/2 cup mung bean sprouts
1/4 teaspoon red pepper flakes
1/2 cup pad thai peanut dressing, recipe below

Pad Thai peanut sauce:

2 tablespoons lime juice
1 tablespoon fresh ginger, peeled and minced
1 teaspoon fresh garlic, minced
1 teaspoon rice vinegar
1/4 cup PB2 (cuts down on fat/calories in recipe)
1/2 cup lite coconut milk
4 tbsp. warm filtered water
2 tsp. Braggs Liquid Amino Acids (or fish or soy sauce)
2-3 pinches stevia

DIRECTIONS

- Spaghetti Squash:

Steam the spaghetti squash in a metal steamer basket over a large pot filled with 3 inches of boiling water. Make sure the lid over the spaghetti squash is closed, and steam for about 20 minutes or until you can easily pierce it with a fork and the inside is tender. Instead of steaming the squash you could also cook it in the oven or microwave. Once it is tender and cooked through, let it cool (or put it in the fridge to cool it faster), so you can scrape out the noodles.

- Pad Thai Peanut Sauce:

While the squash is cooking and cooling, prepare the Pad Thai peanut sauce. You can puree the lime juice, ginger, garlic and vinegar, then blend in the coconut milk, PB2, water and Braggs Liquid Aminos. (I just stirred everything in the measuring cup). You will have extra sauce which you can store in the fridge for up to 3 days.

- Scoop out the spaghetti squash once it is cool enough to handle.

- Veggies:

In a wok or large skillet, heat 1 tbs. coconut oil over medium high heat. Add in the onions and saute for 8-10 minutes until soft/translucent. Add the broccoli and saute for ~8 minutes until bright and tender. Stir in the bok choy and saute for about 4 minutes until tender. Stir in the spaghetti squash noodles and saute further. (I was trying to get them a little crisper, but that didn't really happen the longer I kept them on high heat...) Season the veggies with lime juice, herb seasoning and Braggs Liquid Aminos.