Pantry Pad Thai

Do you ever have some serious food cravings but can’t bring yourself to make a grocery list, put on some real clothes, and drive to the store? Yup… that was me just a few hours ago, craving a warm bowl of rice noodles coated in a yummy spicy sauce with some crunchy bean sprouts and peanuts.  So instead of going out and the buying ingredients, I decided to ‘MacGyver’ my way through the pantry and make a “shortcut” version that was just as tasty and way more time efficient ( 20 min!) than making a list and driving to the store.  While some of you may not have rice noodles laying around, those of you who are  a little more adventurous in the kitchen will most likely have all, if not most of the ingredients in this recipe.  And if you don’t, I always like to think of a recipe as a guideline, nothing is set in stone, if you have something that can be substituted, go ahead, get creative, that’s what cooking is all about!  

Pantry Pad Thai: feeds 4

1 bag thin brown rice noodles ( thick cut is fine too)*

2 chicken breasts, cut into strips and then cubed

2 eggs, scrambled

1 tablespoon minced, fresh ginger

1 bunch scallions, thinly sliced    

1 tablespoon mirin (you may not have this, that’s ok! use double the amount of rice wine vinegar)

2 tablespoons brown sugar

4 tablespoons soy sauce

1 tablespoon sriracha

1 tablespoon rice wine vinegar (or white vinegar)

1 medium pepper, thinly sliced then cut in half (think matchsticks)

1 carrot, peeled into ribbons

To garnish:

1 lime

Chives, thinly sliced

chopped cilantro

chopped cashews

* Place rice noodles in a bowl and soak in lukewarm water (thicker noodles will need to soak a little longer or you can use hotter water). 

Begin by heating a large, heavy bottomed, sauté pan.  Add a drizzle of olive oil and cook chicken pieces until completely cooked through (about 8 minutes).  Remove chicken to add later.  In the same pan, add the ginger and scallions, sauté for 3 minutes.  Add mirin, brown sugar, soy sauce, sriracha, and rice wine vinegar to the pan.  Immediately add the peppers and carrots and cook for 5 minutes.  Drain rice noodles and add to pan, mixing to coat with sauce.  In a different pan, cook the scrambled eggs, add to noodles.  Add chicken back into pan and mix.  Top with chives, cilantro, squeeze of lime juice, and cashews.  Serve right away.