When my wife, my best friend, and my son, my precious precious little man, are out-of-town, I don’t cook daily. I cook every few days and eat the same meal for lunch and dinner until it’s done. That sounds depressing and lonely, but it’s really not – I’m a good cook, so don’t worry, I’m eating good food. I don’t cook daily because I fill my time with all sorts of mettings volunteering or movies my wife wouldn’t like, rather than sitting in a quiet house in front of the TV. I also use the time to make “quick” dinners, like this easy pad thai dish.
It’s day eight of “home-alone”, and after a whirlwind weekend of dinner with friends, movies, meetings, acupuncture and cleaning, I sit down tonight, tired, and ready for the weekend.
Pad Thai is a wonderful dish, one that I am yet to prepare myself, and a while a tablespoon of peanut butter and a dash of soy sauce does not turn pasta into pad thai, it goes a long way to making turing pad thai into an easy dinner you can make at home. If you want a taste of Thai food using the ingredients you have in the house, then consider this an easy pad thai recipe and know it’s not the real thing!
Easy Pad Thai – Peanut and Chicken Penne
You’ll need the following:
- Two Chicken Breasts (You can substitute for tofu if you prefer)
- 1lb bag of Penne (or other pasta)
- One Onion, diced
- One Red Pepper
- Scallions (Optional)
- Two Tablespoons of Peanut Butter
- Two Cloves of Garlic
- Cilantro (Optional)
- Peanuts (Optional)
- Soy Sauce
- Hot Sauce
- One Can of Olives
- Half a Cup of Capers (optional)
Pre-heat the oven to 350 degrees, drizzle soy sauce, hot sauce, paprika and garlic powder on the chicken breasts and bake for an hour. Don’t worry of the chicken is not fully cooked – yet. Dice your onion and garlic and put in a skillet, let them start to brown. Thinly slice the red pepper and add to the skillet.
Boil water and cook your Penne or Pasta of Choice until it’s al dente (about 8 minutes once the water has boiled).
Drain the pasta, set it aside. Add the onions and red pepper to the pasta. Once the chicken is mostly cooked, dice the chicken breasts and add to the skillet to finish cooking. Once it’s cooked, add the diced chicken to the pasta. Add the olives and capers. Season with soy sauce and hot sauce to taste. While still warm, and on a low heat, add two tablespoons of peanut butter and stir until the peanut butter has melted.
Serve, and garnish with chopped scallions and chopped peanuts as well as hot sauce and soy sauce to taste. This dish re-heats very well, two minutes in the microwave and you have a piping pasta dish ready for dinner!
Photo Credit: *clairity*
