Pad Thai Salad – So good you’ll eat it two days in a row!

Pad Thai Salad, yes you read correctly. I know what you’re thinking, “Pad Thai Salad, that sounds too healthy. Where’s my starch?  You won’t miss the noodles or anything fried with this taste sensation. This recipe was so successful, my family asked to have it again the next night for dinner and trust me, that never happens.

The coolest thing about this is that it’s completely vegan. ( Oooo I said the “v” word…..) So, I take it you happen to be a carnivore? No problem, simply add some grilled chicken, prawns, or beef and voila the meal is fit for any hungry tyrannosaurus rex. But, if you would just try it at least once the way it is below, I promise you, you will not be asking,  “Where’s the beef?” You get all your protein from the beans and tofu.  If you are not fond of tofu, simply just don’t use it, but it helps to create a flavor romance that works great all together.

The beauty of this meal, is that it is chocked full of nutrients, tastes amazing,  is super healthy, and is easily modified to your specific taste. If you don’t like snap peas, use broccoli or cucumbers.   I keep the dressing on the side so leftovers will not become soggy. Also my people seriously sucked down the homemade dressing, so the following night I had to make another batch of the dressing in order to have enough for the second meal.  You could also serve some spring rolls or pot stickers as an appetizer, and use your dressing as a dipping sauce!

Just look at how beautiful this thing is. It’s truly like eating a rainbow.

Photography copyright of Tika Moon Photography.

This recipe was adapted from http://www.eatingbirdfood.com/2014/02/kale-cabbage-pad-thai-salad/. 

Pad Thai Salad

My bowl made enough for three people, two dinners each.  My husband however is a quantity eater, so I think that this would be enough for 6 – 8 people depending on how hungry they are and if you served an appetizer with it..

Ingredients

• 1/2 to 3/4  head of green cabbage, thinly sliced
• 1 large bunch of kale, thinly sliced
• 1 cup red onion, chopped
• 1 cup yellow or orange bell pepper, chopped
• 1/2 container of extra firm tofu, cubed
• 1 large heirloom tomato, cubed
• 2 carrots, shredded or about a cup of pre-shredded carrots
• 1 bunch fresh cilantro, chopped
• 1 cup snap peas – cut in half
• 1/2 cup of celery – chopped
• 1.5 cups of cooked chickpeas (pre-soaked and cooked) or 1 can of chickpeas

Light Pad Thai Dressing

• 1/3 cup chopped peanuts
• Juice of 2 limes (about 4-5 Tablespoons)
• 3 Tablespoons Bragg’s Liquid Aminos (or low-sodium Tamari)
• 1 Tablespoons water
• 1 Tablespoon toasted sesame oil
• 1 Tablespoon olive oil
• 1 Tablespoon maple syrup
• 1 Tablespoon Agave
• 1 Tablespoon Red Wine Vinegar
• 1 teaspoon sriracha (or more depending on your tastes)
• 2 teaspoons fresh grated ginger – or ginger paste
• 2 teaspoon garlic

 Instructions

Salad:

1. Prepare all your veggies. Make sure they are chopped into similar sized pieces placing them in separate temporary prep bowls.
2. Add the kale and the cabbage and mix together first in a large bowl.
3. Take each of your veggies and place on top of the cabbage & kale mix, in a pie wedge shape, alternating colors.
4. Add the cilantro and celery in the center.
5. Present to your guests, family this way and they will be very impressed.
6. Mix the salad at the table, and you are ready to serve.

Dressing:

1. Combine all dressing ingredients into a small bowl and whisk with fork until smooth. The peanuts seem to float to the top, so right before serving, mix again.
2. Place in a serving bowl (or gravy boat) and let each person scoop their dressing to their liking.
3. Enjoy the yummiest salad ever!

This year I started making my own beans from scratch. They seriously just taste so much better. You do have to plan ahead, soak the beans overnight and then the chickpeas take about 2 hours to cook. I promise you it is so worth it. I made extra, and then used the rest in some minestrone soup  the next day.

Thanks for eating with me! I will try and figure out how to make a link to print the recipe, so it can be neat, tidy and fit all on one page.  If you know how to do that and are kind enough to share, I would love to know the secret.

So Many Recipes, So Little Time

Back in January this year, my life drastically changed. The decision was made for me; I was laid off from my full time Accounting Manager position due to budgetary cutbacks.  So what’s a creative person to do with all this sudden time on their hands?  1. Organize  2.  Be the best “Soccer Mom” or in my case “Dance Mom” I can be   3. Surf the internet  4. Catch up on 4 years of TV shows I missed   5. Start watching “Downton Abbey” and  6. Go back to cooking real, fresh homemade meals, the kind that take all day to prepare and days to plan, why? Because I can.

I have always loved reading and researching recipes.  Clipping them out of a magazine, printing them from online, hand copying  family or friends ingredients and instructions, because it was just so good I had to take the time to scrawl it on some scratch paper.  What always ends up is a pile of papers, in no particular order just sitting in a binder calling me, whispering sweetly to me, “Tikaaaaa…. Tika, TIKA! Come create me.” Then my regular life takes over and I just stick to the basic meals I know.  When you only have 20-30 minutes to get some food on the table for your clan, you tend to choose what you know and what’s easy.  Let’s face it I have stuck my fair share of microwave frozen meals the speedy machine to cook up a super fast meal.

For the past few years I have started to adopt the thinking that we need to eat freshly made, unprocessed foods like our grandparents and great grandparents used to eat. While I have a huge challenge in that regard, because my husband is a vegan.  I grew up with a mother who cooked home homestyle comfort food and I still crave things like meatloaf, pot roast, roasted chicken and spaghetti & meatballs.  I do like to use some vegetarian mock meat options when cooking to substitute for the real thing. When cooked properly, they taste great and work well in most recipes. Out of respect for my husbands beliefs we eat mostly vegetarian at home, only cooking fish once in a while for my daughter and myself.  But after 4 years of dedicating a lot of time to my past employer, I realize that when I did have time to cook  (when I was not too exhausted from a 1-2 hour commute each way), I would choose one of about 10 standard meals we all liked.

1. Spaghetti & Meatless Meatballs
2. Taco/Burrito Night
3. Falafels
4. Chinese Chicken-less Salad
5. Make your own Pizza night
6. Stir Fry
7. Tortilla Soup/ Chili
8. Sweet Corn Tamale Cakes
9. Coconut Pineapple Curry
10. Baked Potatoes with all the fixin’s

To be honest, we really like all the choices above.  And there were days when I would have more time, or get more creative with things like Vegan Shepherds Pie,  Lasagna with Tofu Ricotta,  Enchiladas,  Roasted Vegetable Bruschetta, or Caramelized Onions & Mushrooms Tartlets.  But one can only have so much of the same thing and when your brain is drained, it is very hard to be inventive. I have already tried several new recipes since my recent friendship with unemployment began and my family and I have been loving it.

I have recently decided that I really want to start to get away from canned goods. I realized most of what I bought in cans was beans and corn.  Well, it turns out with a little foresight, homemade beans are pretty dang easy and they taste 100 times better then what comes in a can. Also YOU choose what goes in your food, no extra sodium or chemicals lining the walls of a can leaching into your food.  I really try to buy organic when possible, call me a chemical snob, but I truly think that most organic foods simply just taste better.  Here is a link on how to make your own beans from scratch.  It’s so easy a monkey could do it!  Here is a link from Simple Bites on to how to make beans from dried: http://www.simplebites.net/a-simple-guide-to-cooking-dried-beans 

This new blog is only the tip of the iceberg for me. I want to share my creativeness, ideas, fabulous finds with all of you, especially for the extremely busy, working or stay at home moms, dads, college student, who just need a little inspiration or push in the right direction.  I have so many recipes that I will try out for you and give you advice or my take on. Also when I discover a restaurant or store, I love to share the experience with my friends, especially when they go above and beyond what is expected.

I have always (seriously always – at least as long as computers have been around) wanted to have a blog. I feel that I have a lot of different skills, talents, and information to share. Some I learned on my own and some if it researched, explored or learned from a friend. If you choose to take this journey with me,  we can learn all about the so many wonderful things our modern world has to offer.

So raise a glass or high five someone in the room with you, and lets get going on my biggest adventure yet. As they say, “When one door close, another door opens!”