Angela's Quick Veggie Pad Thai Style Noodles

Angela’s Quick Veggie Pad Thai Style Noodles

Angela Malik

Featuring:

Cabbage

Carrots

Courgette

Effort:

Complexity:

Cost:

Serves: 4

Prep time: 5 mins (+ 1 hour soaking time)

Cook time: 5 mins

Ingredients:

Half packet of 5mm rice noodles (these need to be pre-soaked in water for 1 hour)

Your choice of veggies cut into long thin strips we suggest: 2 carrots, 1/2 white cabbage, 2-3 spring onions, 2 courgettes

2 teaspoons light soy sauce

1 tablespoon oyster sauce or black bean stir fry sauce

1/2 lime

1 tablespoon salted peanuts

2 tablespoons chopped fresh coriander

2 tablespoons oil, for frying

optional - hot sauce, to serve

Veg Portions / Serving: 2

Make dinner quick, easy, fresh and veg-packed tonight with this simpler twist on pad thai noodles. Give your wallet a rest from the takeaway and feel healthier for it.

Method:

Soak the rice noodles in cold tap water for a least an hour. Once they are soft and pliable, they are ready to stir fry. Do not rush this step – the longer the noodles soak, the better.

Heat the wok until smoking hot. Add the oil and shredded vegetables, along with 1 teaspoon of the light soy sauce. Allow to cook for 1-2 minutes, tossing and stirring continuously.

Add the pre-soaked noodles and second teaspoon of light soy sauce, along with the oyster sauce or black bean sauce.

Stir fry thoroughly until cooked. Add a splash of water to keep the noodles soft. Keep stirring and checking regularly to ensure nothing burns or sticks.

Finish with the juice of the lime, and sprinkle with the peanuts and coriander. Take off the heat and add the hot sauce, if using. Serve immediately.

Engaging Kids

Kids who engage regularly with veg through veg-themed activities, such as arts and crafts, sensory experiences, growing and cooking are shown to be more likely to eat the veg they engage with. Encouraging kids to engage and play with veg is the handy first step to them developing a good relationship with veg and life-long healthy eating.

Kids in the kitchen

Get the kids to soak the noodles and drain them. Have older kids chop the veg, and younger ones stir in sauces. Get them to sprinkle the peanuts and coriander over the top.

Activities

While getting kids to interact with veggies for real and using their senses to explore them is best, encouraging hands off activities like arts & crafts, puzzles & games or at-home science experiments can be a great start, particularly for those who are fussier eaters or struggle with anything too sensory. Use these veg-themed activities as a stepping stone to interacting with the veg themselves. We have loads of crafty downloads here, puzzles here, and quirky science with veg here.

Sensory

Once you feel your child is ready to engage a little more, you can show them how to explore the veg you have on hand with their senses, coming up with playful silly descriptions of how a veg smells, feels, looks, sounds and perhaps even tastes. Find ideas, videos and some simple sensory education session ideas to get you started here.

Serving

The moments before food is offered can be a perfect opportunity for engagement that can help make it more likely a child will eat it! Giving children a sense of ownership in the meal can make a big difference to their feelings going into it and the pride they take in it. You know your child best, but if you aren’t sure where to start, we have some fun and simple ideas for easy roles you can give them in the serving process over here.

Angela Malik

Angela Malik is an expert in Asian food, and teacher at the the prestigious Leith’s School. She has developed her own range of ingredients and launched a multi-site Asian deli and cook school.

www.angelamalik.co.uk/

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