Vegan Courgetti Pad Thai

As regular readers of this blog will know, I am an avid lover of vegetables, and always have been. I was the strange child that asked for a second helping of brussel sprouts at Sunday dinner. There’s a huge movement towards veganism and plant based eating in today’s society and whilst I can’t see myself fully comitting (I prefer balance as opposed to restriction in my diet), my love of all things grown in the Earth has me fully in support. The environmental and health benefits of everybody eating more veg and less meat (not giving it up completely) are undeniable and that’s something I can totally get on board with. Plus, the more creative and tasty things we can make out of vegetables the better I say!

The summer heatwave has me all over plant based eating like a rash. Many dishes involve a lot less cooking and therefore a lot less time slaving over a hot stove! One of my favourite swaps for packing more veg into your meal is using courgette noodles in place of spaghetti and regular noodles and so that’s what I chose to do for this flavour packed pad thai recipe. You don’t need to spend £30+ on a fancy spiraliser, you can get the basic giant pencil-sharpener kind for roughly a fiver on Amazon if you go hunting. However if you really don’t want to invest in this ‘fad’ most supermarkets now sell courgette noodles already cut for you, they will however be much more expensive than a plain old courgette.

I’m not sure if I can strictly call this a ‘pad thai’ as I’ve switched out so many of the traditional elements, however the basis of the dish is there. To make this totally vegan I made sure to avoid the fish sauce used in so many recipes.

Ingredients

(Serves 1)

Toasted sesame oil

1 small courgette, spiralized

1/2 bag bean sprouts

1/4 red pepper, thinly sliced

1 spring onion, finely sliced diagonally

1/2 red onion, thinly sliced

1 clove garlic

1 tsp chilli flakes

Large handful coriander, shredded

Handful cashew nuts, roughly chopped

For the sauce:

1 tbsp organic chunky peanut butter

1 tbsp sweet chilli sauce

1 tbsp lime juice

1/2 tbsp soy sauce

Method

1. Bring sesame oil to a medium-high heat in a large wok.
2. Gently fry the onion and chilli flakes for a couple of minutes.
3. When the onions have softened add the peppers and garlic.
4. Add the bean sprouts and spring onion after another minute or two.
5. When all of the ingredients are pretty much cooked add the courgette noodles and just cook long enough to soften a little.
6. Meanwhile thoroughly mix the ingredients for the sauce.
7. Add the sauce to the pan and ensure everything is thoroughly coated.
8. Add the coriander and cashew nuts and mix through.

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