Vegetarian Pad Thai

I am guilty of making pad thai with a premade sauce. It was edible, but this recipe is so much more flavorful and worth the effort. Although I prefer my pad thai on the spicy side, this is the sweeter version, but I'm sure you can tweak the recipe to your preference. You'll notice the substitutions/omissions I made and it was still great. Enjoy!

Vegetarian Pad Thai

from Cooking Light

Ingredients:
2/3 cup chili sauce [I used leftover taco sauce]
1/4 cup packed brown sugar
2 tbsp water
2 tbsp fish sauce
1 1/2 tsp grated peeled fresh ginger
1 tsp chopped seeded serano pepper [I used jalapeño]
1/2 pound uncooked wide rice stick noodles (báhn pho) [I used skinny rice noodles (py mai fun)]
1 package extra firm tofu, drained and cut into 1/2-inch cubes [I used soft texture I had on-hand]
2 large egg whites
1 large egg
3 garlic cloves, minced
2 cups fresh bean sprouts [I omitted this since I didn't have any]
3/4 cup diagonally cut green onions
1/2 cup minced fresh cilantro, divided
1/3 cup coarsely chopped dry-roasted peanuts
6 lime wedges

Cooking:
1. Combine first 6 ingredients; set aside.

2. Cook noodles in boiling water 5 minutes or until done. Drain and rinse with cold water; drain well. Heat 2 tsp oil in a large nonstick skillet over medium heat. Add tofu; cook 7 minutes or until browned, stirring occasionally. Remove from pan.

3. Combine egg whites and egg, stirring well with a whisk.

4. Heat 2 tsp oil in pan over medium high heat. Add garlic, and sauté 10 seconds. Add egg mixture, and cook 30 seconds or until soft-scrambled, stirring constantly. Stir in chili sauce mixture and noodles; cook 2 minutes. Stir in tofu, bean sprouts, onions and 1/3 cup cilantro and peanuts over noodle mixture. Serve with lime wedges.

Yield: 6 servings