Weekend Recap, with a Side of Tofu Pad Thai
This weekend was quite different from last, largely out of necessity. No sleeping in was involved, and other than the half bottle of wine I drank while impatiently waiting the hour and a half it took for my pre-race carb load dinner to arrive at Toscana Cafe, I didn’t have a single adult beverage. Our romantic Friday night involved bowls of Pho and a run to target for a new trash can (hot stuff I tell you). That meant that Saturday we were up early enough to hop in line for breakfast at Eastern Market, a feat I had not yet managed in the 2+ years I’ve lived on Capitol Hill. I expect that I will manage again soon, however, because the blueberry buckwheat pancakes were possibly the best I’ve ever had.
Fully carb-loaded, we set about picking out tiles for the floor of our already torn up kitchen. We’re going for something like this, I think.
It shouldn’t be that hard to find black and white tiles, right? Wrong. Three stores later, we headed home without tiles. At least I got Courtney away from a TV long enough to not have to watch the Hokies make fools of themselves.
Sunday morning we were up bright and early again, this time to run the half marathon I impulsively signed up for about a month ago after one good run in Sioux Falls. I didn’t have high hopes for this one, between the lack of training, the large bowl of ice cream and the overzealous wine consumption. Courtney practical had to push me out of the car towards the start lines. Miraculously, I felt great the whole race. The last three miles were my fastest and I finished at 1:56:33, shaving about 5 minutes off all of the halves I’ve been able to find my results for. Meaning all of them except the 2010 Pacer’s Running Festival Half Marathon, which seems to have been bought by China and have never existed. Best of all, my canine cheer crew was there to greet me at the end.
Time to rest? Not exactly. Time to head to Frager’s to pick up paint. Then time to prep and prime the master bedroom. Oh, and we can’t forget the “quaint office nook” soon to be known as a dog room, closet, or entrance to the rooftop palace.
Okay, are you sick of hearing about my weekend yet? How about the pad thai recipe I promised? I don’t mind tacking it on the end, because I really wasn’t that impressed. It wasn’t bad, but the sauce just didn’t go far enough. My modifications could be to blame, so I recommend trying the original recipe. That is assuming you get further than a strange look and “um, we have tomato paste…” when you ask if the grocery store carries tamarind paste. God speed.
Pad Thai with Scrambled Tofu
From Vanilla & Spice
Sauce
- 2 tbsp peanut butter
- 2 tbsp tamarind paste (I couldn’t find tamarind, so I used 1 T lime juice/1 T brown sugar)
- 2 tsp soy sauce
- 1/2 tbsp rice vinegar
- 1/2 tbsp sesame oil
- sriracha, to taste (I used 2 tsp)
Noodles:
- 6 0z shirataki noodles (I used vermicelli rice noodles)
- 1 tbsp vegetable oil (I recommend subbing sesame oil)
- 1 shallot, diced
- 2-3 clove garlic, minced
- 1/2 a jalapeno pepper, minced
- 7 oz firm tofu, crumbled
- 2 green onions, minced
- 1 cup bean sprouts
- Lime wedges and crushed peanuts for serving
- To make the sauce, whisk or stir all ingredients together in a small bowl. Set aside.
- Cook noodles according to package. Meanwhile, heat oil in a large skillet or wok over medium heat. Add the shallots and cook, stirring, for about 1 minute. Add the garlic and jalapeno and cook for another 30 seconds. Add the crumbled tofu and cook, stirring occasionally, for about 5 minutes, until the tofu is softened and lightly browned.
- Drain the noodles and add to the skillet. Add the sauce and stir the sauce into the noodles. Once the sauce and noodles are hot, add the green onions and bean sprouts. Stir for about 1 minute, until everything is heated through and coated in the sauce.
- Transfer the contents to plates. Garnish each plate with a handful of crushed peanuts and additional bean sprouts if desired. Serve with lime wedges.
Makes 2-3 servings
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[…] for dinner. I’ll try to get a healthy meal and a good night sleep on Friday night, but I’ve been known to run half marathons without doing that. Basically, all will go on as usual. The amazing thing about marathon training, is that a 13 […]