Sweet Potato Pad Thai

I have been chatting with Bluehost tech support for over an hour about this WordPress thing, and I feel even more confused than before. I don’t know anything about how to run a blog and I need some serious help! Please bear with me while I figure this out. I suppose I have all the time in the world to chat with this nice person, because I just put on a pot of chili that requires a lot of simmering…like 4 hours of simmering. It’s 10pm. The crockpot is ready to report for duty on this one I think. Or maybe I just need some coffee. 😉

So anyway, about a year ago I got a Paderno spiralizer and I am still completely obsessed with it! If you haven’t spiralized, I’m here to tell you that you must start now. You can spiralize so many different foods; sweet potato, turnips, beets, broccoli stem, carrots, ginger, apples…it’s so much fun and I have so many more recipes to share!

This summer I made a Sweet Potato Pad Thai and it was the most delicious “pad thai” I’ve ever had. This recipe is an adaptation of Kaylee’s recipe at Lemons & Basil. I made a couple small adjustments of my own, but man o man what a genius idea! Be sure to head over and check out Kaylee’s recipes too.

Here’s my version and I hope you enjoy it!

Sweet Potato Pad Thai
Serves 4

Ingredients:

Peanut sauce:
1/4 cup natural peanut butter, creamy
1/4 cup Sriracha sauce (use 2 tbsp if you prefer mild over hot)
1/3 cup canned coconut milk, unsweetened
3 tsp sesame oil
1 tsp apple cider vinegar
1 1/2 tbsp real maple syrup
1 tsp tumeric

Noodles:
3 spiralized sweet potatoes (I used the angel hair blade setting on my Paderno)
2 carrots, spiralized then chopped into small length pieces
2 red bell peppers, thinly sliced
2 handfuls of bean sprouts
1 handful of sugar snap peas
¼ cup vegetable broth
1/2 cup dry roasted peanuts (unsalted)
3/4 cup edamame
salt to taste

Optional:
1 lb chicken breast or shrimp if you wish
1/2 white onion, chopped – I have made this both with and without, and I think it’s good either way.

Directions:
If you’re going to add chicken, cook that through first and set aside. I prefer to poach the chicken for this particular recipe, but any cooked chicken will do.

Sauce: Combine all the sauce ingredients in a blender and blend until smooth. Add more or less sriracha to taste. Put sauce in a small sauce pan and set aside.

Then prep everything. This recipe moves quickly so you need everything ready to go before you turn the heat on. Spiralize the sweet potatoes and carrots, slice the peppers, measure out the broth, peanuts, and edamame. Set everything aside and go back to your sauce. Turn the heat on low and have a whisk ready. You’ll want the sauce to be warm when it’s time to add it to the noodles. Whisk the sauce occasionally.

For the noodles: In a large pan or wok, add vegetable broth and let warm up. Then add in the sweet potato, carrots, and peppers, salt, and turn the heat up to medium high. Toss the veggies continuously like a stir-fry until the peppers and carrots become tender. The sweet potatoes will get soft, but not really tender like the other veggies. Add in the snap peas and stir for a couple more minutes, then add in the peanuts and edamame, stirring for 3 more minutes. Now, add in the chicken and peanut sauce and stir mixture until the sauce has coated everything. **You may keep the sauce separate and pour over your portion of the noodles as you go if you wish. I find that option best if you’re planning on having leftovers. Dish the noodles and top with fresh beansprouts and a very little drizzle of sesame oil. Enjoy!

 

 

As always, I’d love to hear what you think!

Kayla

Anti-Inflammatory Green Smoothie

Why does everything have to be such a controversy? Today’s topic: green smoothies. “Too much sugar”, “Loses nutritional value”, “Green smoothies are the nectar of the Gods!”, “There’s nothing healthier!” While I agree that this has potential to be a (natural) sugar blast in a cup, I love green smoothies and everything about them.

I eat no more than 2 servings of fruit each day, and usually those servings are blended up into my morning treat. I can whip them up right before I head out the door for work and know that I’m getting a healthy dose of fruits, vegetables, and protein before I even punch in. I love that they hold me over until lunch time. I love the pretty shades of green, and I really love how my 2 year old sucks them down too, although it must be sipped out of the blue crazy straw or all bets are off.

 

This is my go-to anti-inflammatory smoothie that I make and drink each morning to help reduce any inflammation I might have right off the bat. There aren’t a lot of ingredients, and I have chosen fruit with as low acidity as possible, as well as greek yogurt to add some protein. You can play around with this any way you like – you can trade the yogurt for tofu or even cottage cheese, and you can add different spices to it.

Anti-Inflammatory Green Smoothie
Makes roughly 20 oz.

Ingredients:
1 big handful baby spinach
1/2 blood orange
1 small/medium apple of choice
1/2 cup greek yogurt
1 inch turmeric root (more or less to taste)
1-2 thin chunks of fresh ginger (more or less to taste)
5 ice cubes
Dash of water if needed
Optional
2-3 drops of liquid Sweet Leaf stevia for extra sweetness
1 tbs chia seeds or 1 tbs dry oats

*Before I get to the directions — I’ve tried to do this in a personal blender, but there are too many ingredients to do it in one shot. However, it can be done in portions. Start by blending the spinach and yogurt only and add water if you need to. Then add the rest of the ingredients (ice last) and blend until smooth.
Also, Oikos Triple Zero Greek Yogurt by Dannon is made with stevia leaf extract and I consider it fair game for my smoothies. Sometimes if I want extra fruity flavors I put the Triple Berry Flavor in place of the plain. It’s delightful! Be aware that there is also chicory root in it and that may cause digestive problems for some people. 

Directions:
Peel and break apart the orange, set other half aside for the next morning, or a snack for later. Slice your apple, peel if you wish. I leave my apple peel on. Put ingredients in the blender in this order: yogurt, water, spinach, apple slices, orange slices, chia seeds, turmeric, ginger, ice. Pulse until the spinach starts to get sucked in, then blend on high until smooth and ice is completely ground up. Taste test, then add in stevia if you need a little sweetener. I think the apple makes it sweet enough, so I usually skip the stevia.

I hope you enjoy this recipe as much as I do, and it gives you a little extra boost. Please be sure to let me know what you think if you try it!

Ever try making candied ginger with xylitol?

I don’t recommend it. I think candied ginger is just one of those things that have to be made with cane sugar. I fought a good battle, but ultimately lost that one. However, peeling and slicing 2 lbs of ginger by hand was not done entirely in vain because I got some good ginger broth out of it (is that even a thing?), and I’ll use all those sweet-ish ginger chips for my tea. The oil-free sweet potato chips are coming along though, hopefully I’ll have a recipe for you all real soon!

It’s barely 7:00, coffee is on and I’m salivating over it (thank you, Greenworld Coffee Farm and Jeff & Crystal for sharing this gem). Lincoln was up all night with congestion, therefore Jake was also up all night comforting him on the floor next to the crib. Best dad and fiancee ever. No one knows it yet, but I elected to stay home to take over sick baby duties so Jake can catch up on sleep today. Is there even such a thing? How does one catch up on MONTHS of lost sleep?

I hear little one’s tiny congested voice over the monitor, so I’m off. I hope everyone has a wonderful week, and I’ll have more to share later!

Kayla