My kinda guy likes Pad Thai

We always love a good pad thai and we've had it from at least 7 different places in Denver.  I know I've made this before but I think it definitely turned out better this time.  We had been craving it for a while and it's one of Eric's favs so I decided to make it since I already had most of the ingredients.  The list is long and the process is a little long but it's so good! Plus, I got to use my wok which I NEVER use unless I'm making Asian food and I want to feel authentic.

rice stick noodles

chicken

shrimp

bell peppers

chili peppers

garlic

onion

bean sprouts

green onions

fish sauce

peanut butter

white wine vinegar

red chili flakes

eggs

sugar

limes

The first thing I did was prep all of the ingredients.  This meant cutting the veggies and chicken and peeling the shrimp.  I also boiled some water and poured it over the rice sticks, making sure they were covered.  These sat until the sticks were soft and cooked. 

So while the sticks were cooking, I heated some oil and cooked the chicken.  Once it was browned, I cooked the onions, garlic, and peppers.  Once the veggies started to soften, I added the eggs to the wok and let the cook through until hardened.  Then, these were mixed together and the chili peppers were added to cook a bit to release some heat.  Then, the chicken was added back. 

It's at this point, the noodles were added to the mix along with the fish sauce, vinegar, and peanut butter.  The sauce is mainly to taste.  The last time I made pad thai, the sauce was SO salty.  This time, I think there was too much peanut butter but if there's something I learned from last time, just leave it alone.

Lastly, the bean sprouts, green onions, and shrimp were added.  Since my shrimp was already cooked, I didn't want it to over cook so I just wanted to heat it through a bit.  I also let this cook down a bit so the sauce thickened and wasn't as runny.  Plus, I wanted the heat from the peppers to develop a bit for spice.

My phone died before I got final pictures but I served this in bowls with some lime wedges.  The color of my pad thai is never the same as restaurants but I think they add soy sauce for color, which I choose to leave out due to flavor.  This one turned out a lot better than the first time.  It made a TON though.  We still have some leftovers!! The good thing about this dish though is that it makes for great leftovers, even cold.  I don't know that it's necessarily cheaper to make this at home the first time, but once you have all the random sauces, it becomes a lot cheaper.  I'd definitely suggest going to an Asian supermarket b/c it makes everything a lot cheaper.

When Life Gives You Lemons...

I bought this chicken a while ago since it was buy one get one free at the store.  I put them in the freezer and since I rarely cook chicken, I forgot about it.  Then it occurred to me one day that I really wanted to make some chicken so I got it out of the freezer but didn't know what to do with it.  I decided I really wanted chicken picatta but since I'm not eating gluten I couldn't make it due to the breadcrumbs.  I went in search for something that was similar and came across chicken saltimbocca.  It sounded easy enough and had a lemon sauce which is what I was looking for.  I decided to pair it with roasted veggies. 

To start, the ingredients are: 

Roasted Veggies:

zucchini

yellow squash

mushrooms

onion

salt

pepper

olive oil

Chicken:

chicken

chicken stock

prosciutto

lemon

parmesan

spinach

s&p

The first thing I did with the chicken was pound it flat with a meat masher.  Once they were all about the same thickness, I layered prosciutto followed by spinach and then parmesan cheese.  This is when the tricky part comes in, the roll up.  Since there's so much stuffing, it can get a little tricky but just think of a burrito without having to fold in the sides.  Starting at the bottom, roll up the chicken and then secure it with toothpicks. 

The chicken rolls get placed in the frying pan with some olive oil and browned on all sides.  Once brown, the chicken is removed from the pan and the chicken stock and lemon juice is added.  Scrape the brown bits from the bottom of the pan and replace the chicken into the pan.  Once it comes to a simmer, put the lid on it and let it cook through. 

The veggies should be cut and put into a baking pan.  They go in the oven and just let them roast until soft.  

Once the chicken is cooked through, remove it and cook the sauce some more.  It will cook down and become a little thicker.  I poured the sauce over both the chicken and the veggies, giving everything a fresh lemony flavor. 

Luckily, the rolls stayed together and didn't fall apart when removing or plating.  Take out the toothpicks before eating.  We topped everything with more parmesan cheese.  This was pretty good! Not the same as chicken picatta but healthier so I guess that's ok.  It was still good and had the lemon that I was craving.  Roasted veggies are always good so I enjoyed those.  I'm not even sure that we had any leftovers that night.