School is almost over, and it is time for me to work through the rest of the frozen meat from the New Seasons's Family Meat Pack. The only thing we have left is - take a wild guess - yes, beef. Today we brought a couple of other kids home with us a for an after school play date, so I needed to make something that would be ready quickly. So, after the 3-pea stir-fry success of yesterday, I decided to give Pad Thai a try. While the kids were in school, I stopped at one of the Asian Markets to pick-up Pad Thai sauce - ok, I guess that is cheating ;) - noodles, and a couple of other items. {Note to self: I must bring the girlies to the Asian market during summer break, they will one it too.} I got fresh pad thai noodles and off to an adventure as this is something I have never made before.
Prior to making it, I looked at a few recipes to get a basic idea and voila it worked out. The girlies loved it, as did Ron. Yay!
I will call this dish Beef Pad Thai a la mode -
- Canola Oil
- Medium onion finely diced {I used two small garden fresh from the Mom where Alena had her
playdate}
- large clove of garlic, or three minced
- veggies of choice julienned {I used a turnip and garlic shoots - both garden fresh}
- 1/2 bunch of cilantro chopped
- 2-3 green onions sliced finely
- app. 1/2 cup of unsalted peanuts
- app. 1-1/4 lb of steak {I had round steak left} thinly sliced
- 1 tablespoon soy sauce
- app. 1/4" fresh ginger minced
- 8 oz. pad thai noodles {I used fresh}
- app. 4 Tablespoons - or more of Pad Thai sauce
- 1 lime sliced
1. marinate beef with soy sauce, and fresh ginger. Cover and marinate in fridge for about an hour.
When you are ready to prepare the dish - it is very quick from here on
2. heat splash of canola oil in pan, or wok. Add onion as well as other veggies when fragrant - takes
a couple of minutes or so, add
3. garlic, and after a minute or so add the steak, and after a minute add peanuts. Keep on high heat
stirring frequently. I covered it briefly
4. Prepare pad thai noodles according to package - the fresh ones took 50 Seconds to boil. When done,
5. add pad thai noodles to the pan/wok, add 1/2 of green onion and cilantro - stir it all into the
vegetable-beef mixture, then add,
6. pad thai sauce to taste and stir the entire dish frequently in the pan/wok
Sprinkle with the remaining green onions, and cilantro. Serve with a lime wedge