BM# 76: Week 3/ Day 3
Theme: Picnic Hamper
Dish: Pad Thai Noodle Salad
For the final day of this week's marathon I have yet another colorful and delicious salad. Pad Thai noodles are one of my all-time favorite dishes and I crave for it once in a while. The problem with that dish is that it has to be made in small portions (2 servings at a time) for the best flavor. So I make it only when I really feel like it.
So this Pad Thai Noodle salad has all the important elements of the traditional Pad Thai but without the fuss involved. Thai dishes have a wonderful balance of flavors -- they sweet, spicy, salty and tangy, all at the same time. Soy sauce, lime juice, brown sugar, chili sauce (either sriracha or sambal oelek) and apple cider vinegar add some serious flavor punch to the dressing. 
This recipe is adapted from Good Housekeeping site. Pad Thai usually has a meat based protein in it, but since I was making a vegan version I added some fried tofu. Oriental or Teriyaki style baked tofu would be a nice addition as well. I recently tried fried tofu from my local Korean market and I'm currently obsessed with it. It is just perfect to chop and add to any Asian style dish.
This Pad Thai noodle salad is great to serve at room temperature making it perfect to bring to a picnic or potluck or even in the lunchbox. Serve the salad over baby greens like spinach or watercress to add more color and nutrition to the dish.
I was given this idea by a camera company called Light. They are running a food photography project where they want to share the behind-the-scenes food photos. So, here's my setup for the Pad Thai noodle salad. I have a large sliding door that gets good amount of light during mid day. (If I want a moody shot, I use the curtains to make it slightly dark.)
It was a nice sunny day when I took these pictures and also since this is for a picnic post, I wanted it the photo to be nice and bright, so left the curtains out. I added some fresh cilantro on the side to add a pop of color to the background.
Lets check out what my fellow marathoners have cooked today for BM# 76.
Pad Thai Noodle Salad
Ingredients
For the Salad:
- 8 oz. Pad Thai Brown Rice Noodles
- 1 Large Carrot, shredded or grated
- 4~6 Small Radishes, grated
- 4~6 Green Onions, finely chopped
- 1 Medium Red Pepper, thinly sliced
- 1 cup Mung Bean Sprouts (optional)
- ¼ cup Roasted Peanuts, coarsely chopped (optional)
- 8 oz. Baked or fried Tofu
- 3 tbsp Cilantro, finely chopped
- 8 oz. Baby Spinach
For the Pad Thai Dressing:
- 2 tbsp soy sauce
- 1 tbsp lime juice
- 2 tbsp brown sugar
- 2 tbsp Peanut or Vegetable Oil
- 1 tbsp apple cider vinegar
- 1" piece Ginger, finely grated
- 1 Garlic clove, finely minced
- ½~1 tsp Sriracha or Sambal Oelek
- To taste Salt Pepper
Instructions
- Whisk all the ingredients for the dressing in a bowl. Season with salt and pepper and set aside.
- Cook noodles according to package instructions. I boiled a large pot of water, turned off the heat and added the brown rice noodles while stirring to separate them. Set it aside for about 5 minutes or until the noodles are tender but firm. Drain well and add to a big mixing bowl.
- Add shredded carrot, radish, red pepper, green onions, tofu and mix well.
- Stir in the sauce and mix well to evenly distribute it with the noodles and veggies. Rest the salad for at least 30 minutes.
- Divide the spinach between serving plates, top with noodle salad, chopped cilantro, roasted peanuts and mung beans sprouts and serve. Enjoy!!
Vaishali
The salad sounds fantastic , a medley of flavours . I would love to eat something like this .
The recipe and the setup looks great , thanks for sharing .
Gayathri Kumar
Awesome, colourful salad with all the goodness of pad thai. And your photo set up is so good.
Rafeeda - The Big Sweet Tooth
Your pictures are always amazing! Thank you for sharing the set up... the pad thai noodle salad looks so full of goodness...
Sandhiya
Good to know about behind the scenes of your gorgeous clicks. BTW, the noodle looks yummy and perfect for picnic.
Priya Suresh
Wow, that a beautiful salad again, Pavani am in love with this salad and you have a such a gorgeous place to click your pictures.
Rajani
Love that colorful salad. It's packed with so many different flavors
Bintu - Recipes From A Pantry
Pad thai is such a healthy dish, packed full of veggies. Love this!
Dorothy at Shockingly Delicious
Love this dish! Never thought about taking it to a picnic. Great idea!
Prasanna Hede
That's colorful and yummy salad idea. Would love to try this over weekend.
Igor @ Cooking The Globe
I love Pad Thai so I will surely love this salad! Bookmarking!
Srivalli
Pavani, that behind the scene is fabulous..you know I would ask you for more right..your pictures seriously makes anything look pretty!..I have never cooked pad thai...but this dish sounds so interesting..
Mellissa williams
What an amazing and fresh looking dish. Love the peanut dressing too
Rebecca @ Strength and Sunshine
You can never go wrong with some classic pad thai! It look wonderful!
Sharmila - The Happie Friends Potpourri Corner
Love your vegan dishes Pavani.. This look so yumm!!
Sapna
I love Pad Thai. The idea of making pad thai salad is awesome. Love behind the scenes photos too.
Bhawana
Already commented on the link you shared.
These pad thai noodles looking very delicious. I love eating them. my favourite
Rohit
That looks so yummy I and love noodels very much, I will Surely try this and hope to get it the same way you got, Thank you for sharing such a god recipe.