noodles Archives | with a Side of Sneakers

15 Minute Thai Simmer Sauce

You’d think as a dietitian it’d be easy for me to come up with easy, nutritious dinners night after night.

You’re wrong.

I tend to get caught up in the idea that dinners need to be new and elaborate and different every week. I try to make big batches of some of our favorites to freeze, like pineapple enchiladas, but I’m not always on top of it. And you know what? There’s no reason every meal has to be new and completely different than the night before.

That’s where this sauce comes in.

Thai simmer sauce. One of my absolute faves. It’s yummy, versatile, and easy. “15 minutes” is being generous- you can easily have it done faster.

Thai Simmer Sauce

by with a Side of Sneakers

Ingredients

1 can coconut milk
1 cup vegetable broth
2 Tbsp Thai red curry paste
1/4 cup peanut butter
1/2 Tbsp minced ginger
1 tsp minced garlic
1 tsp fish sauce {optional}
dried basil to taste
sriracha to taste

Instructions

In small saucepan, combine coconut milk, vegetable broth, red curry paste, peanut butter, ginger, and garlic. Bring to a boil then reduce to a simmer for about 10 minutes. Sauce will thicken slightly and will continue thicken as it cools.

{Don’t fret if you don’t have fish sauce- just skip it.;)}

Serve over brown rice noodles, stir fry veggies, or grilled chicken or shrimp.

I like to make a big jar of it ahead of time and keep it in the fridge for nights when I don’t know what to make, don’t have a lot of time, or am on my own for dinner.

We love it over brown rice noodles with lots of sliced stir-fried veggies like snow peas, red bell peppers, onions, and carrots. Topped with sesame seeds and some extra sriracha- it’s a gourmet-tasting meal without the labor.

So simple, so yummy.

Last night we had this mixed with some leftover sesame peanut sauce- oh my goodness deliciousness. But that’s a recipe for another day.

What are you favorite easy go-to meals?

Nutty Coconut Red Curry Noodles

Entree

Do you ever notice that things trying to taste like things they’re not taste like crap?

Vegan cheese will never taste like dairy cheese because it’s not cheese.

Coffee-flavored tea doesn’t taste like coffee because it’s not coffee.

Most recently I’ve found that non-wheat pasta has nothing on the taste or texture of whole wheat pasta because…wait for it…it’s not made of wheat.

That doesn’t mean you have to be stuck with less than stellar alternatives. Just pick things for what they are not what they aren’t.

Exhibit A: Brown rice Pad Thai noodles.

These have been lurking in the shadowy depths of my makeshift laundry room pantry {because my real pantry is tiiiiny} for months, just waiting for me to make Pad Thai.

But Pad Thai is just so good. I’ve put off attempting to replicate an allergy friendly/vegan version in fear that it won’t live up to the original.

Finally, on one of those days when I have no idea what I’m making when I start cooking, I grabbed the Pad Thai noodles and started whipping things together.

The result? An immediate trip to the store for more Pad Thai noodles. Forget the imposter wannabe wheat pasta- these were meant taste exactly the way they taste: delicious.

While this isn’t Pad Thai at all, it satisfies my Thai-food craving, meets my allergy-friendly needs, and is equally delicious for the non-allergy-concerned {aka the husband}. Best of all, it comes together in minutes. The longest part is waiting for the water to boil.

You can easily sub the shrimp for tofu or chicken if you prefer. It’s also great with other Asian noodles like Mai Fun. Soba noodles would probably be good too if you eat wheat.

I make this at least once a week, yet I’ve never slowed down enough to take a decent picture before diving in. Priorities. Winking smile

Nutty Coconut Red Curry Noodles

thia red curry noodles

by with a Side of Sneakers

Ingredients

1 box brown rice Pad Thai noodles {I like Annie Chun’s}
1 carrot, sliced in thin strips
1 red bell pepper, sliced in thin strips
2 cups shrimp {I use pre-cooked, frozen shrimp}
1 can coconut milk
1 cup vegetable broth
2 Tbsp Thai red curry paste
1/4 cup peanut butter
1/2 Tbsp minced ginger
1 tsp minced garlic + extra for shrimp/veggies
dried basil to taste
sriracha to taste

Instructions

Prepare noodles according to package directions.

In small saucepan, combine coconut milk, vegetable broth, red curry paste, peanut butter, ginger, and garlic. Bring to a boil then reduce to a simmer.

While sauce & noodles are cooking, sauté peppers, carrots, and shrimp in sauté pan. Add extra garlic, ginger, basil, or black pepper as desired. Cook until shrimp are pink.

Pour sauce over shrimp & veggie mixture. Add noodles. Stir to combine.

Serve with sriracha to taste.

Are you a fan of Thai food? Or makeshift Thai food? I’m a sucker for tom ka gai soup, Pad Thai, and of course, mangoes with sticky rice.

Other Thai favorites:

Thai Tomato Soup

Coconut Curry Soup

Thai’d Up: Coconut Curry Soup

Recipe

Let’s talk soup.

A few weeks ago I received some samples of Thai noodles from Annie Chun’s. “Make pad Thai” as always been on my food-to-do list, so I was pretty excited to see those.

But pad Thai is a really good dish- it has some serious standards to live up to. So of course I’ve continued to avoid making it. I decided to ease my way into the world of Thai by starting with the maifun noodles.

Mai fun noodles give a whole new mean to angel hair pasta. They are the thinnest, most delicate noodles I’ve had. They’re made of brown rice, and are gluten free, 100% whole grain, and packed with fiber.

Because they’re so tiny and delicate, I thought they’d be perfect to beef up some soup. The weather may not be agreeing with me these days, but autumn is the start of soup season after all. Plus, I have a thing for Thai-inspired soups.

So here we go, soup time:

The noodles ended up being delicious. I made quite a mess breaking them apart, but was absolutely delighted they only took 3 or 4 minutes to cook. Now that’s my kind of meal!

With some shredded cooked chicken for the husband.

While the soup was good, the husband and I both decided it would make an excellent veggie-noodle sauce. Next time I’ll try reducing the soup portion down until it’s nice and thick, then pour it over my noodles and veggies. Mmmmm.