So chicken pad thai is basically one of my very favorite meals ever. When I first started learning to eat healthy, I remember someone telling me that Thai food was healthy so I didn’t think twice about helping myself to plentiful servings of pad thai–but let’s be honest here…peanut butter, pasta, oil….when I finally figured out what went into my favorite take out (and me and Mac’s go to meal) I was super sad.
A few months ago I made my own chicken pad thai, and just loaded up on veggies so that it needed less pasta, and took some sugar out of the sauce. Today I was inspired by this recipe. I’ve been following Lindsay’s blog for a while now, and I love her lean versions of food network meals. Anyway, I was thinking about the recipe and I got inspired and this is what came of it.
*1 lb boneless skinless chicken breast, sliced
*1 yellow onion, sliced
*2 yellow squashes, sliced
*2-3 large cloves garlic, diced
*2 jalapenos, sliced
*3/4 cup peanut butter
*approx 1/4 cup rice vinegar
*approx 2 tbs lite soy sauce (use gluten-free if desired)
*approx 1 tsp sriracha sauce
*1 tsp olive oil
*1 lime (zest and juice)
*bean sprouts (I used a couple handfuls)
*1 orange bell pepper
*3 ribs celery
*1-2 handfuls grape tomatoes, halved
*1 avacado, cubed
*approx 3 cups romaine lettuce, chopped
*chopped cilantro to taste
*big handful shredded carrots
*sliced green onions to top
DIRECTIONS:
Heat peanut butter in microwave until melty. Add soy, oil, vinegar and sriracha and mix well. Stir in chicken and let sit for approx 10 min. Spray large nonstick skillet and cook chicken, japaleno, onion, garlic, squash, lime (zest and juice) and sauce on medium low heat until chicken is cooked through and veggies are tender. Add bean sprouts, remove from heat and let sit. Mix together all remaining ingredients in a large bowl. Add warm chicken/veggie/sauce mixture and lightly toss throughout.
Oh my gosh I had no idea just how much food it was going to make! That was the most surprising part. The whole meal probably costs about 10 dollars and made I’m guessing at least 6 servings. We have a huge tupperware full of left overs and it was delicious!