When you have a new puppy, routine becomes important. We've gotten into a pretty good afternoon/evening routine, with a nice walk and home cooked meal before play time and tv time. We are also lucky Mike has been working East Coast hours so we have an extra hour in the afternoon together. Last night, I tried a new recipe for Easy Pad Thai. I love pad Thai, but its a bit of a pain to make, so I had high hopes for this recipe. It turned out great, but I don't think it was necessarily easy. I started by making a sauce of tamarind paste, water, fish sauce, brown sugar, black pepper, and chili sauce. Next, I put the noodles in a pot of hot water and let them soak for about 25 minutes. Meanwhile, I sliced my chicken into thin pieces and coated it with a mixture of soy sauce and corn starch. I heated up some vegetable oil in the skillet and added some garlic and red pepper flakes, which I cooked until fragrant. Then, I added in the chicken and cooked it until it was no longer pink. Once the chicken was cooked through, I added it my noodles and sauce. I got the sauce boiling and let the pad Thai cook for another few minutes.

I cut up a few scallions and cilantro, chopped some peanuts, and quartered a lime to be used for garnish. I also added some shredded carrots and a little spicy mustard. The results were excellent. Mike said it was my best attempt at pad Thai yet, which I took as quite a compliment. Even though it was a pain to make, it was easier than some recipes for pad Thai. It also makes a ton, which makes it worth the work in my book. I may prefer restaurant pad Thai for its ease, but this was a great recipe, given that you have the time to devote to making it right.

The New Austonian