Vegan peanut sauce "Pad Thai" with spiralized carrots

Today’s recipe has a sweet, spicy and tangy peanut sauce which amps up the flavor of the traditional Pad Thai and makes this the perfect meal to kick start the week. This is a vegan, homemade version of Pad Thai with Onions, Beans and Spiralized Carrots made with sweet- spicy peanut sauce. Most delicious Pad Thai ever! So, let us get cooking 🙂

I have been hoarding on Oriental sauces for as long as I have been cooking. Whenever I visit an Oriental grocery store, I head straight to the “sauces” aisle and end up picking up all sorts of vegetarian/ vegan sauces I can get my hands on. Would you believe that I have about 6 types of chili sauces and that I buy my Soy sauce by the liter? It is no surprise that many of my dishes feature Soy sauces and chili sauces. I think both of these sauces along with some sweetness (coming from Honey or Sugar) really works in harmony and I simply can’t get enough of it! Use that base sauce in stir fries, Noodle dishes, Tofu dishes and what not.

Spiralize it !

Recently, I was gifted a Spiralizer and I am absolutely fascinated with my new machine! It turns vegetables into noodles and all of a sudden you have transformed your veggies into something awesome! I have tried zucchini noodles in recipes before and it turns out great 🙂 This time I thought of making carrot noodles (or caroodles :P) and adding into my Pad Thai to sneak in a lot more vegetables in my noodles and it has worked really well in this recipe! Have a look for yourself … such vibrant food!

Peanut Sauce Pad Thai with Spiralized Carrots

That is not all !! I am also making a fun sauce to add to this Pad Thai using my favorite ingredients – Peanut Butter and Tamarind. Trust me, this combination works great !

I remember using Tamarind sauce instead of Lemon juice in Thai curry once (I ran out of Lemons :P) and have never gone back. You have to try the pairing. The peanut-tamarind sauce I am using in this recipe is delicious on its own and you can totally use it as a dipping sauce for dumplings, noodles, spring rolls etc. Give it a go and you can thank me later.

Vegan Peanut Sauce Pad Thai with Spiralized Carrots

Vegan peanut sauce Pad Thai with spiralized carrots

Servings: 2
Time: 30 minutes
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Ingredients

Instant Dried Noodles – 100 gms
French Beans – 1 cup ,cut into 2 inch pieces
Red Onion – 1 small ,cut lengthwise
Oil – 1 tablespoon
4-5 cloves of garlic
ginger- 1 inch , cut into jullienes
Spiralized Carrot Noodles – 2 cups
Shittake Mushrooms – 1 cup ,cut lengthwise
sesame seeds (black/white) – 1 tsp
roasted peanuts- 1 tablespoon, roughly chopped

Peanut Sauce

Peanut Butter – 1 tablespoon
tamarind paste – 1 tablespoon
light Soy Sauce – 2 tablespoons
Sambal Oelek – 1 tablespoon
brown cane sugar – 1 tablespoon
Pinch of salt (adjust as per taste)

Method

Mix all the ingredients for the Peanut sauce and keep aside.
Cook the noodles to Al-dente using the instructions on back of the pack. Keep aside.
Take a wok and add the oil and heat. Once hot, add in the ginger an garlic and saute for a couple of seconds to release the flavors in oil. Add in all the vegetables (except spiralized carrots) and saute for 3-4 minutes on high flame.
When the vegetables are soft and cooked, add in the spiralized carrots and saute for another 2 minutes.
Pour in the peanut sauce and saute for a couple of seconds.
Add in the cooked noodles and toss around to mix everything.
Sprinkle sesame seeds and roasted peanuts on top and serve immediately.

Such a vibrant plate of Vegan Pad Thai

Now that is totally delicious! The tamarind peanut sauce brings the “umami” factor in this dish and makes “Pad Thai” extra special for me. I loved the addition of spiralized carrots in this dish and made it extra healthy! I ended up using only half the quantity of noodles I had initially planned and my family ended up enjoying more servings of vegetables with this dish. Total win win for all 🙂 Try it with your favorite vegetables and I am sure you would make it again and again 🙂