RECIPE: Raw/Vegan Pad Thai

I had my friend over for dinner tonight and she requested I make a raw meal for her.  I happily obliged!  My raw meal of choice was Pad Thai.  I figured, "noodles" would be a safe bet and then drench them in a tasty sauce, toss some peanuts on and garnish the dish with lime wedges.  How can that be bad?  It can't!  And it wasn't!  My friend enjoyed the dish immensely, so I'm happy I could provide her a positive first experience with a raw food meal.

Raw/Vegan Pad Thai


Serves 2


Ingredients:

Noodles
-  1 large zucchini
-  2 large carrots

Sauce
-  1 1/2 T. tamarind paste*
-  1/4 c. filtered water
-  2 T. tamari
-  3 T. agave nectar
-  2 tsp. Sriracha
-  1/8 tsp. black pepper

Suggested garnishes (optional but highly recommended!)
-  Bean sprouts
-  Crushed peanuts 
-  Lime wedges


*Note: I could not find tamarind paste--or juice, for that matter!--at my Whole Foods so I made my own!  It's quite easy, actually, and there's a real sense of pride in knowing that I made it myself!  It probably tastes better than any paste I could have bought anyway (although I have never sampled a store-bought tamarind paste to know the difference but I can imagine homemade is better).  Just buy a large handful of tamarind, maybe 7 or 8 of them, remove the shell and sinewy fibers of the fruit, and let soak in a bit of warm water to allow fruit to soften.  After the fruit has had time to soak, use a butter knife to scrape away the flesh and discard the seeds.  Unfortunately, each fruit does not generate a lot of flesh, which is why you'll need about 7 or 8 of them to get the amount of paste needed for this recipe.  After the flesh is separated away from the seeds, use a fork to mash it into a paste.

Directions:

1.  Use a vegetable peeler to create ribbon-like carrot and zucchini noodles.  Divide among two bowls.
2.  Combine sauce ingredients by whisking together in a small bowl or by combining in a food processor.
3.  Pour sauce over both bowls of noodles and allow noodles to marinate for anywhere from 15-30 minutes, allowing the noodles to soak up the sauce.
4.  Garnish bowls with bean sprouts, peanuts and lime wedges.