Low Fat Vegan Pad Thai, with Raw Vegan Option

I am a huge fan of Thai food. I love the spices, the creamy sauces, and the heat that comes with most meals. Also I love the fact that they tend to stay away from using meat in most dishes. They love using lentils, beans and vegetables to make up most of their dishes, something that I am very familiar with!

I have wanted to make a Pad Thai for a very long time, but never felt the drive to go for it. Knowing that the Pad Thai I used to eat was amazing, I was a little apprehensive on making a vegan version. But that all changed when I got a major craving for it and just had to make it for supper!

I have seen multiple recipes online for vegan and raw vegan versions and none really stuck with me. They all looked pretty but the ingredients didn’t really entice me to make them. So surprise, surprise I came up with my own! Wanting a challenge I really wanted to make this as low fat as possible. Knowing that anything with coconut milk, peanut butter and noodles tastes great. So I really thought about what was going into this dish and how I could substitute out the high fat things for low fat things!

The first to be subbed out were the noodles. I knew from the beginning that I was going to make mine with zucchini and skip the rice noodles. Not that they are bad for you, just that the zucchini noodles are a healthier choice! Next was the sauce. Traditionally Pad Thai sauce is made from oyster and fish sauce, two things that we vegans cannot eat! So what would give that taste?..... *light bulb* Nori papers! They have that fishy taste because they are made from seaweed and they would blend really nicely into a sauce without changing the texture. Now to give the sauce some substance! I wanted to go for a creamy version of Pad Thai and skip out on the Worcestershire Sauce, Soy Sauce and anything else high in salt and unknown ingredients. Well why not use another zucchini? That would make it creamy without having to add any non-dairy milk.

Results? Fantastic! It had a great nutty flavour, with a hint of spice right at the end from the red pepper flakes. But what is really awesome about this dish is that it can be raw too! So you now have the option of having a raw dish or a cooked one. Two for one here folks!

Low Fat Vegan Pad Thai

-       1 medium zucchini, spagettified with a mandolin or spiralizer

-       2 carrots, shredded

-       2 cups bean sprouts

-       1 cups broccoli, chopped

-       2 green onions, chopped

-       crushed unsalted peanuts

-       lime juice, garnish

Pad Thai Sauce

-       2 limes, juiced

-       1 nori paper

-       1 tbsp fresh ginger, grated

-       2 tbsp peanut butter

-       1 clove garlic

-       1 small zucchini

-       2 tsp Red pepper flakes

Place all ingredients into a blender and puree until smooth.

In a large skillet steam the carrots, broccoli and onions with a little water until almost fork tender (about 7-10 mins) toss in the zucchini, sprouts and sauce and cook for another 10 minutes. Add crushed peanuts and lime. Enjoy!

Raw version!

Don’t cook any of it! Use your favourite raw nut butter and raw nori paper in the sauce. Toss all ingredients together and enjoy!!

Thanks for reading!

xoxo -N

Vegan Meatless Balls, Gluten Free

You gotta love living in Saskatchewan! All of this snow, that I feel will never melt, does not represent Spring at all. So with all of this snow and cold weather, I am still craving hot comforting meals instead of the fresh, cold, spring salads that would be typical for April.

I won’t lie though, I am happy that it is still winter for one reason and one reason only, Lucy is not covered in mud. With Spring, comes melting snow and muddy backyards, two things that do not go well when you have a long haired, large dog. So in a small way I love the snow and my clean dog and house, but truthfully I would love to put my winter jacket away and not have to worry about breaking my ankle on the ice.

This recipe came about on Saturday afternoon while watching the documentary Fat, Sick and Nearly Dead.  It’s about a guy named Joe who wants to transform his life from fat, sick and nearly dead into fit, happy and healthy. He was 310 pounds and wanted to make a big change in his life, so he did a juice cleanse for 60 days to see what would happen. I won’t tell you anymore but you can guess that it turns out great. I really really really suggest you watch this with your WHOLE family. Yes even your kids. Joe lays out the movie in a way that anyone can grasp, including little cartoons explaining your immune system.

So anyways we are sitting there and I start to crave a smoothie so bad, I mean the guy is drinking freshly squeezed juice and it looks so good! Well, great minds think alike because Devon says “I'm craving a smoothie” Boom, I hop in the kitchen to whip us up a delicious snack and a commercial for Diners, Drive Ins and Dives comes on with a clip of spaghetti and meatballs.

Devon – ‘Now I want a smoothie and spaghetti and meatballs.’

Me – ‘Okay, let’s have them for supper, but could we just try making vegan ones?’

Devon – “Ya sure let’s give them a shot!’

So Devon searched the internet for a recipe and came across this one on My Vegan Cookbook and I had to agree it looked good. Now knowing me I don’t follow recipes, so I got the gist of it and went my own way. I didn’t make a ton of crazy changes but the main thing I changed was making them Gluten Free. Chelsea was coming over for supper that night and it would be good if she could actually eat the food we made.

If you have any leftover rice this is a really good recipe to try, because you want the rice to be a little dry and really who likes eating left over plain rice? The lentils you can either buy canned or you can use dry lentils and boil them on the stove for 45 mins to an hour. I would also suggest using fresh parsley rather than dry, because these are only cooked for 20 mins you still get the freshness of the herb after they are cooked.

 

These do get quite messy when you are rolling them, but hey no big deal because there is no raw meat or eggs in them, so just lick your fingers and see how it tastes. That is probably the biggest benefit about making vegan meatballs, is that while you are stirring in the ingredients you can taste test all the way through. Again there are no worries about eating raw meat or eggs, its already cooked rice and lentils with some herbs and spices!

I am honestly really happy with this meal, probably one of my favourite things I have ever made. We made it with zucchini noodles and an organic pasta sauce, two simple ingredients that don’t cost that much! The next time you are buying tomato sauce, read the label to see if there is any added sugar. That is one of the main reason I buy organic, is because there is no sugar added to the sauce, and I can pronounce all of the ingredients. I have copied the lists of ingredients from Prego and the Presidents Choice Organics Primavera Sauce so you can see the difference in what they put in.

PREGO TOMATO PUREE (WATER, TOMATO PASTE), DICED TOMATOES IN TOMATO JUICE, SUGAR, CANOLA OIL, SALT, DEHYDRATED ONIONS, SPICE, DEHYDRATED GARLIC, CITRIC ACID, NATURAL FLAVORING.

Presidents Choice Primavera: Water, tomato paste*, diced tomato*, carrots*, celery*, zucchini*, red peppers*, extra virgin olive oil, sea salt, green bell peppers*, minced onions*, garlic, parsley*, oregano*, black pepper*

* = organic

This is something we can simply change in our grocery carts that is one step towards making healthier decisions.  Plus I hate it when labels say ‘Natural Flavourings’ What the heck is that? If you are vegan, gluten free or have any allergies you have to be wary of this because fish, gluten and nuts are all natural. So if you are concerned call the company and ask to make sure you can eat it.

Ingredients – 10 Large Meatless Balls

1 ¼ cup of cooked rice, white or brown

½ cup of cooked lentils (do not use kidney beans or black beans)

5 mushrooms, minced

2 tbsp of parsley, minced

1 lemon, juiced

½ cup ground flax

¼ cup brown rice flour

½ garlic clove, minced

2 tbsp of soy sauce

2 tbsp of olive oil

1 tsp balsamic vinegar

1 tsp of chili powder

Dash of red pepper flakes

Dash of liquid smoke (optional)

1 jar of your favourite tomato sauce

1 zucchini per person, thinly sliced using a mandolin or a vegetable peeler

Combine all ingredients together and mix until well blended. If you find it too wet, add more ground flax, if too dry add some water.

Roll into balls, place on a lightly greased cookie sheet and bake at 350 degrees for 15 mins. Add tomato sauce into a frying pan and heat up. Add the meatless balls and simmer for 5-10 mins, letting them soak up the juices. Serve over a bed of zucchini noodles!

Thanks for reading,

Xoxo -N

Lemon Dill Tomato Sauce with Zucchini Noodles

After that life changing curry dish (well, for me it was) I was thinking that the curry sauce is something that could be made to taste like anything. You could omit the curry and add something totally different, and BAM you got yourself a whole new sauce. So what did I want? Sweet, savory, spicy? I wasn’t sure. That was until I was walking through Safeway and for some reason the flavor of dill popped into my head. Mmm dill… that sounds delicious, I haven’t had anything with dill for a very long time and it is one of my favourite spices. Now what? Dill and… dill and… dill and…lemon! So simple yet so perfect. Lemon dill tomato sauce, with zucchini noodles sounds like an awesome supper.

When I got home from Safeway (after scoring 5 bunches of bananas for $4.50, woo hoo!) I started on my dish and boy did it smell good. I don’t know what it is about dill that just screams awesomeness but it does. Like the curry sauce it has a rich, creamy flavor that some people might be surprised to learn that there is no milk or cream involved. That is one of the benefits of blending your sauces, they come out smooth and creamy without the added fat! I also decided to serve this with some steamed broccoli to add some color, body and extra nutrients to the dish. I could have totally eaten the sauce by itself, its that good, but its nice to have texture and color in my meals, and what a better steamed veggie than broccoli! I hope you enjoy this meal as much as I did!



This is what the sauce looks like before you blend it!

Ingredients 2-4 Servings

1 tbsp coconut oil

1 large yellow onion, diced

1 clove garlic, sliced

1 large can of whole tomatoes, chopped in half

½ cup cashews, soaked overnight

1 lemon, juiced

5-7 sprigs of dill, de-stemmed and chopped

Pepper to taste

1 head of broccoli, chopped

In a large frying pan on medium/high heat sauté onions in oil for 10 mins until brown. Add the rest of ingredients and simmer for 15-20 mins. Pour into high speed blender and puree until smooth. While this is cooking, steam broccoli until fork tender.

Zucchini Noodles

1 zucchini per person

Using the julienne blade of a mandolin, slice zucchini lengthwise into long, thin strands. Slice the zucchini just until you reach the seeds in the middle and then stop (the seeds will cause the noodles to fall apart).

NOTE: If you don't have a mandolin you can use a vegetable peeler or a knife.  

If you want the noodles to be hot, put the noodles into the frying pan with desired amount of sauce and cook for 5 mins and serve with broccoli! Enjoy!

Thanks for reading!

Xoxo -N