Today's Sunday Roast, tomorrows Pad Thai

So,

I will admit, I've never been a fan of Thai food. I think the main reason is that I've never had good Thai. I found this recipe on the Food Network website and decided to tweak it a little bit and see how I felt.

Last week I made some delicious pork pot roast in my crock pot. We've been enjoying the leftovers, but I was concerned that they would go bad before we had a chance to finish them. I decided, what better time to try to Pad Thai than when the meat is already cooked.

I made it for Sunday dinner tonight, and while Jeff, who has had good Thai food, says that he thinks there could have been more hot sauce, he also says that it is "really good." He went back for another large helping so I guess I didn't do too badly.

If you had pot roast today, I guess this would be a good recipe to try tomorrow or Tuesday; however, the original recipe calls of raw chicken or shrimp that you cook until cooked through with the vegetables. I'm sure (if you're vegetarian, or trying to cut down on meat) you could even use tofu. Try it the way you want to, see how you like it.

I actually liked it...I don't know if that says anything, but coming from a Thai skeptic it could mean something.

Another note, the recipe called for Thai rice noodles, they can be purchased in the asian cuisine section of your local grocery store, however I used regular spaghetti noodles and they seemed to work just fine.

Bon Apetite!

For the sauce whisk together the following ingredients and set aside:

1 TBS peanut butter
1 TBS soy sauce
1 TBS asian chili paste (I used less because I'm not a big fan of food that is too spicy)
1TBS brown sugar
1 TBS vinegar

(note= I doubled this recipe because I knew that with the type of noodles I was using I would likely need more sauce, I was right. If using regular pasta noodles double this!)

be sure to boil the noodles while you're doing this so they will be ready in time. When they're done, drain them and set them aside.

In a skillet or Wok heat 2 TBS canola oil then add 1 tsp of minced garlic and 1 tsp of ginger. Let them sizzle in the oil until fragrant (this takes 30 seconds to one minute.) (note= you can use dried minced garlic and ginger powder. The recipe says to use fresh, but I used dried and it turned out alright according to my husband)

once the garlic and ginger have made the oil fragrant add your vegetables and meat.
If using raw meat, you want to cook them all together until the meat is done. The benefit of using yesterday's pot roast is you get a more authentic "crunchy" vegetable effect- in other words they aren't soggy.

Veggie wise I used:
julienned cabbage
julienned onions
julienned carrots

the original recipe said to use
julienned carrots
julienned zuchinni
julienned yellow squash

Honestly, I think you can use whatever you like in your stir fry...the recipe wasn't really lacking anything because of my substitutions.

Once the meat and veggies are cooked to your liking, toss the drained noodles in, making sure they are coated with any remaining oil. Then add the peanut sauce. Cook for 2-3 more minutes so that the sauce will coat and infuse the noodles with flavor.

Whip out a fork and enjoy your Asian inspired meal!