Recipe: Vegetable Pad Thai

This flavorful and colorful recipe is a lighter and healthier version of everyone’s favorite noodle dish—pad Thai. We use a combination of powdered peanut butter, creamy peanut butter, and peanuts to keep the calories and fat in check while still serving up great flavor. We also use brown rice noodles to add fiber. You can customize this recipe with shrimp or chicken instead of tofu. Or add your favorite vegetables to make it your own. Be sure to serve with lots of zingy lime wedges for added freshness.

Prep time: 10 minutes
Cook time: 20 minutes
Total time: 30 minutes
Serves: 6
Serving size: about 1 ½ cups

Ingredients

For the sauce:

• 4 tablespoons powdered peanut butter
• 2 tablespoons fish sauce
• 2 tablespoons unseasoned rice vinegar (or 1 tablespoon Thai tamarind paste)
• 1 tablespoon reduced sodium soy sauce
• 1 tablespoon creamy peanut butter, no sugar or salt added
• ½–2 tablespoons sriracha, depending on heat preference
• 2–4 tablespoons hot water

For the pad Thai:

• 3 tablespoons extra light tasting olive oil, divided
• ½ sweet onion, diced
• 3 scallions, sliced, white and green parts divided
• 3 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 red bell pepper, thinly sliced
• 1 pound extra firm tofu, patted dry, cubed
• 8 ounces pad Thai brown rice noodles
• 2 eggs, beaten
• 2 cups mung bean sprouts

For serving:

• ½ cup cilantro, chopped
• ¾ cup dry roasted peanuts, chopped
• 2 limes, divided (one halved, one cut into wedges)

Instructions

For the sauce:

In a mixing bowl combine powdered peanut butter, fish sauce, rice vinegar, soy sauce, peanut butter, and sriracha (start with ½ tablespoon). Slowly whisk in enough hot water to make a thickened liquid, using 2–4 tablespoons. Taste and adjust level of spiciness by adding more sriracha.

For the pad Thai:

In a wok or skillet, heat 1 ½ tablespoons oil over medium heat. When the oil is hot, add the onion and white parts of the scallions. Sauté until translucent. Add the garlic and sauté another minute. Add the red pepper and tofu. Sauté until the red pepper is tender and tofu begins to brown, about five minutes. Remove from skillet and set aside.

In a separate pot, cook noodles according to the instructions on package until barely al dente. Do not overcook the noodles.

While the noodles are cooking, add the remaining 1 ½ tablespoons oil to the skillet over medium heat and scramble the eggs, breaking them into small pieces.

If the noodles have cooled down, rinse them briefly under hot water to reheat, then add them to the skillet. Add the tofu mixture and pour the sauce over top. Add the green parts of the scallions and bean sprouts. Toss to combine. Remove from heat.

Squeeze one of the limes on top of the noodles. Top with cilantro and chopped peanuts. Serve with lime wedges.

MOBE kitchen tip:

• Sriracha is a bright red, thick chili sauce made with chili peppers, garlic, sugar, salt, and vinegar. It has some heat but isn’t too spicy (less heat than hot sauce). You can vary the level of spiciness to your liking by using ½–2 tablespoons of sriracha.
• In powdered peanut butter, most of the fat (and thus, the calories) has been removed from the peanuts. The result is a lower-calorie and lower-fat peanut butter replacement. We’ve used PB2 in this recipe to cut back on the fat and calories—pad Thai is typically a high-calorie dish. PB2 is also great in smoothies, desserts, dressings, and sauces.

Recipe notes:

• Don’t have red peppers on hand? Substitute yellow or green peppers. If you don’t have peppers, you can use any vegetable that is relatively quick-cooking, including broccoli, bok choy, cabbage, snap peas, and snow peas.
• Don’t overcook the rice noodles, as they’ll become sticky and gummy. If they stick together, toss with a bit of oil to help them stay separated.

Nutrition facts per serving

Calories: 560 / Total Fat: 30g (38% DV) / Saturated Fat: 4.5g (23% DV) / Trans Fat: 0g / Cholesterol: 60mg (20% DV) / Sodium: 860mg (37% DV) / Total Carbohydrate: 51g (19% DV) / Dietary Fiber: 6g (21% DV) / Total Sugars: 10g / Added Sugar: 0g (0% DV) / Protein: 26g / Vitamin D: 1mcg (6% DV) / Calcium: 188mg (15% DV) / Iron: 4mg (20% DV) / Potassium: 585mg (10% DV)

Allergen statement: contains eggs, fish, wheat, soy, and peanuts.

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