We’ve been really craving some Pad Thai lately.  The sweetness of the sauce, the crunch of the peanuts, the slight tang of the lime – yum!   Of course, when you need to eat gluten free it’s never as easy as just hitting up the local Thai food place.  My confidence level in getting it completely gluten free is pretty low.  As a result, I set out to create my own version of the traditional Pad Thai dish – of course it’s guaranteed to be gluten free!

So off to TJ’s we went! Trader Joe’s used to sell the regular rice noodles typical of a Pad Thai dish, but they seem to have been discontinued or maybe they’re seasonal?  This proves a little problematic when Shani starts craving Thai, so on went the thinking cap.  Fortunately, TJ’s still has regular rice pasta, so a bag of Organic Brown Rice Pasta Fusilli was purchased and we were on our way!

Ingredients Used:

• 2 cups cooked and drained Organic Brown Rice Pasta Fusilli
• 1 1/2 cups defrosted and diced Just Grilled Chicken Strips
• 1/3 large red onion, sliced
• 4 eggs, whisked
• 1 tbsp Olive Oil
• Pad Thai Sauce (see below for recipe)
• 1/3 cup sliced green onion
• 1/4 cup crushed peanuts
• 1 lime, cut into wedges

Ingredients for Pad Thai Sauce:

• 4 tbsp San-J Organic Tamari sauce
• 6 tbsp white sugar
• 2 tbsp Red Wine Vinegar
• 2 tbsp Orange Juice frozen concentrate

There are a ton of variations you could make to this dish, and my recipe is a combination of several others that I’ve tried.  I usually add some cilantro if I remember, so you might want to add that as another garnish as well.

This dish goes together pretty quickly once you’ve assembled all of the ingredients.  I like to get all of the sauce items together, put them in a sauce pan over low heat until the sugar is well dissolved.   Next, heat the oil in a wok or whatever large pan you have around and cook the onions, cooked but still with a little snap to them.  Move the onions to the outside of the pan and scramble the eggs in the center.  Once they have cooked up mix with the onion and add the chicken for a couple of minutes, making sure everything is heated.  Add the sauce mixture to the wok and stir all ingredients together, I let the whole batch simmer for a couple of minutes.

That’s It?

Yep!  I serve this in a bowl, and garnish with the crushed peanuts and chopped green onion (and cilantro if I have it).  I told you this was easy!

What’s your favorite Thai dish?  I’m pretty fond of Crying Tiger, might post that one next!