Bangin like Bangkok: Prime Time Thai
A Bite of History:
Post-World War II Thailand faced recession with massive unemployment in the 1940′s. To revive the Thai economy, the government would distribute detailed instructions throughout the country (for the poor) on how to make rice noodles. This increased the production of rice noodles across Thailand, increasing employment and fortunately, firmly rooted noodle dishes as Thai cuisine!
My favorite dish this week was an eggless, healthier Pad Thai which tasted amazing. On top of taste, it was quick, easy and a money-saver! During these hard economic times, I think its a safe bet to assume everyone is looking for ways to save money. You can only bank on cash and coin by eating greens and peas on new years day, so there must be other budget friendly dishes to chow down for the rest of the year!
My Pad Thai had rice noodles, asparagus, peas, water chestnuts, baby bella mushrooms, london broil and a (bottled) thai sauce. The best part is you can sub other veggies, which adds fiber, vitamins, minerals and COLOR to your dish! Rice noodles are also gluten free, which I discovered within the past year when I suspected I had a gluten intolerance. Even though I can eat gluten, I still enjoy the texture and versatility of these noodles. After scouring the “international” section in an isle at Harris Teeter, I found a great bottled Thai Peanut sauce. I noticed that almost all sauces contained wheat, or something else like trans-fat full hydrogenated oil that I wasn’t crazy about.
This one has decent ingredients (tamari, organic sugar, water, apple cider vinegar, garlic powder, salt…), no wheat, and tastes awesome! It also tastes fantastic for tofu:
This dish lacks nothing in my opinion- It’s bangin like Bangkok! Check out my recipe below, which made tons! Enough for three huge lunches and two huge dinner portions as well…
Total Cost: $15.45
Servings: 8 huge portions ( 2 cups)
Ingredients:
- 1 london broil ( 1.25 lb, $ 3.45 )
- 1 bunch of asparagus spears ( about $2)
- 1 can water chestnuts ($1)
- 1 bag frozen peas ($1) or 1 bag frozen mixed vegetables (peas, corn, carrots) $1
- 1 pkgs. baby bella mushrooms (on sale $2)
- 1/2 bottle Thai Peanut Sauce ( also on sale, $2)
- 1 pkg. rice noodles ( I used Notta Pasta brand, $4)
Preparation Details:
Layer the london broil in the crock pot
and pour in enough sauce to lightly coat the slab o meat (about 1/2 cup, or 1/4 of the bottle).
Add enough water to cover the meat, or about 1 1/2 -2 cups. Turn the crock pot on low and leave (I left it cook for 8 hours). I know it looks harsh on top, but it was really tasty. Yes, 8 hours did make it a little dry but my recipe calls for 6 hours. We all make mistakes!
Boil the rice noodles according to the package (takes about 6-8 minutes). While the noodles are boiling, prep the veggies. ( In this case, I trimmed the asparagus, cleaned the mushrooms and prepped the peas).
Drain the noodles from your pot and remove the beef from the crockpot. I steamed the peas using the heat from the drained noodles and put the beef on top to save myself a dish to clean.
I made sure to cook the noodles in the largest pot I could and reused this pot for the next step. Add the liquid from the crockpot to the former noodle pot ( or a large skillet/wok). and add the veggies. Stir fry with another 1/4 cup of sauce and thicken.
When the mixture starts to thicken ( 3-5 minutes), add in the noodles and beef.
Let me know if you try it and think its “bangin” too! 
