Pad Thai

Pad Thai

Last Saturday marked Day 20 of the Whole30 and boredom was starting to set in at the house.  The miserable Midwest weather has become old and we just want to get out of the house and do something fun…..like go out to eat!   Obviously, that was not an option for us so I decided on making something unique  for dinner and have some family fun with a game of Monopoly.

Noah dominated the game!

I looked all over the web for Whole30 compliant dishes that we had not tried yet and came across a few for Pad Thai.  Pad Thai is something that we have never tried before (Whole30 compliant or not) so this was exciting for our taste buds!  The end result was delicious and the whole family enjoyed it!  We will definitely be eating this dish again….even after the Whole30!  You can use chicken or shrimp in this recipe.  I used both Saturday night since I had both on hand!

Ingredients:

• 4 tbsp. of  lime juice
• 2 cloves of garlic, minced (or 2 tsp. of granulated garlic)
• 1 tsp. of red pepper flakes
• 1 inch piece of ginger, minced
• 4 tbsp. of coconut aminos ( you can use soy sauce if you are not on the whole30)
• 1 tsp. of rice vinegar
• 1/3 cup of sunflower seed butter, no sugar added (you can use peanut butter if you are not on the whole30)
• 3/4  cup of whole fat coconut milk from a can (make sure it’s stirred well)
• 1 tbsp. of coconut oil
• 1 lb. of chicken diced or shrimp (shelled, uncooked)
• 1 medium onion,  sliced thinly
• 1 ½ cups of fresh sugar snap peas, sliced thinly lengthwise
• 1 cup of shredded cabbage ( I bought a bag of it that was already shredded)
• 1 large spaghetti squash

Garnishes:

• Chopped cilantro
• Sliced green onion
• Lime wedges
• Chopped almonds or cashews

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees.  Cut Spaghetti Squash in half (length wise) and scoop out seeds.  Lay face down on a cookie sheet and bake for 35 minutes.   Cool and shred the insides with the fork.  Set aside.
2. In a food processor, combine  lime juice, garlic, red pepper flakes, ginger, rice vinegar, sunflower butter, and 2 tablespoons of coconut aminos and process until well blended.    Scrape down the sided of the bowl, add the coconut milk, and process until it’s well blended and smooth.  Set aside.
3. Heat coconut oil in a large pot over medium-high heat and add chicken and or shrimp.  Sautee until chicken is golden brown or shrimp turns pink.  Remove with a slotted spoon and set aside.
4. In the same pot add onion, sugar snap peas, cabbage, and additional 2 tablespoons of coconut aminos .  Sautee for 5 -7 minutes or until onion is translucent.
5. Add cooked spaghetti squash, sauce, and chicken/shrimp and stir until ingredients are evenly distributed .  Serve immediately with your preference of garnishes.

Hope you all enjoy this dish as much as my family did!  Let me know what you think if you try it out in the comment section below!

Recipe adapted from this one.