The quickest Pad Thai dinner packed full of crunchy peanuts, creamy dressing and soft rice noodles - everything you need for the perfect midweek dinner that everyone will love. We use butternut squash noodles and edamame beans to up the veggies in the whole dish but if you don't have any then simply mix through some more rice noodles or veggies.
Serves 3-4
Ingredients
For the noodles
2 garlic cloves, peeled and chopped
1 pack of mushrooms, sliced
100g frozen edamame beans
150g noodles (rice noodles are best)
300g butternut squash noodles (or 1 butternut squash, spiralised)
50g roasted peanuts, roughly chopped
Olive oil
For the sauce
2 tablespoons of creamy tahini
3 tablespoons of smooth peanut butter
2 tablespoons of soy sauce (or tamari)
1 tablespoon of brown rice vinegar
2 tablespoons of toasted sesame oil
3 tablespoons of almond milk, plus more if needed
2 teaspoons of maple syrup (or honey if vegetarian)
Pinch of chilli flakes (as much or as little as you want for the spice)
Juice of 1 lime
Pinch of salt
To serve
Sprinkle of sesame seeds
Method
1. Place the edamame beans in a small bowl and cover with boiling water. Leave for 5-10 minutes until they become soft. At this point, drain and leave to one side until needed.
2. Make the noodles by placing a large pan of salted water over a medium heat. Once boiling, add the noodles and cook according to the timings on the pack. Once cooked, drain, rinsing in cold water to prevent them from sticking to one another and then leave to one side.
3. Place a large frying pan or wok over a medium heat and add a drizzle of olive oil. Once warm, add the chopped garlic, sliced mushrooms and a pinch of salt. Mix well and cook for 5 minutes, or until the mushrooms begin to soften.
4. At this point, mix through the butternut squash noodles. Cook for 5-10 minutes until the noodles begin to feel soft.
5. Mix through the drained edamame beans and cook for another few minutes until cooked through and the butternut squash noodles become tender.
6. In a small bowl, mix together the pad thai sauce ingredients until smooth, adding a dash more almond milk if needed until you get a smooth, creamy sauce.
7. Stir the sauce, drained noodles and peanuts through the pan. Mix well until everything comes together and cook the dish for a few more minutes to heat everything through. You may want to add a dash more almond milk to make the sauce even creamier and coat the noodles.
8. Serve with a sprinkle of sesame seeds on top of the noodles.
