Bambu is teaming up with Gritty Gourmet to bring you easy, healthy recipes, cooking tips, and more. This month, we’re here to help you get back into the swing of things with one of our favorite easy dinner recipes. Pasta night is getting a major upgrade thanks to this vegan Thai noodle recipe. Bursting with refreshing flavors and lively ingredients, you won’t believe it only takes a few minutes to whip up.
Here’s why we’re loving this easy vegan Thai noodle recipe:
- Goodbye, boring pasta night. These fresh flavors are changing the game
- Vegan and Gluten-Free
- Chickpea pasta adds major nutrition points (and even kids won’t know the difference)
- Ready in 20 minutes
- Super-ingredients like liquid aminos and ginger help busy bodies stay strong
Add this noodle recipe to your list of easy vegan dinner recipes
Ahh, September. The dog days of summer are gone, and routines are coming back in full swing. As schedules start to fill up once again, it can be more challenging to spend time on complex, time-consuming dinner ideas. Particularly when it comes time for dinner. But as your days become busier, slowing down and enjoying a meal with loved ones only becomes more important.
Luckily, preparing a great meal doesn’t need to take all day. This easy Thai noodle recipe keeps the ease of a traditional pasta night and adds refreshing flavor that the whole table will enjoy.
Make Easy, Healthy Recipes With a Few Simple Switches
One of our favorite parts about this easy vegan Thai noodle recipe is that it packs in a lot of healthy ingredients without making the preparation any more difficult than a simple pasta dish.
First, we choose to use chickpea pasta rather than wheat pasta in this Thai noodle recipe. For those that are wheat or gluten-free, it’s a great way to enjoy noodle dishes guilt-free. And regardless of your dietary needs, swapping out wheat pasta for chickpea pasta is an easy way to boost the nutrition of your dish. Chickpea pasta has double the amount of fiber and provides four times as much protein as wheat pasta. And, with nearly identical texture and flavor quality, even the pickiest eater will have a hard time telling the difference.
Pro tip: You’ll notice that chickpea pasta foams up much more than wheat pasta when it’s boiling. To keep it from boiling over, place a bamboo spoon across the top of the pot.
Then, seasonally available vegetables are used for this dish. Rather than using canned tomato sauce to get your share of vegetables for the day, use fresh, in-season ingredients. Locally and seasonally ripe produce is known to taste better and have higher nutritional value than preserved or out-of-season vegetables. For the month of September, zucchini, yellow squash, garlic, and green onions are in peak season across much of the United States.
Finally, this easy Thai noodle recipe gets much of its unique flavor from a rich sauce. One key ingredient is fresh ginger, a warm and refreshing root that’s also known for its anti-inflammatory and stomach-soothing qualities. Rather than soy sauce, liquid aminos are used. The flavor is nearly identical, yet liquid aminos offer a full serving of all essential amino acids. Additionally, using liquid aminos rather than soy sauce keeps this dish entirely gluten-free. For those that follow a vegan or vegetarian diet, this is a fantastic way to get the nutrition needed to stay energized through long days.
Extra busy? Prep this healthy dinner recipe ahead of time
If you want to make this dinner recipe even easier to prepare in the evening, easily prep it ahead of time. Slice vegetables in the morning so that they're ready to cook when you’re ready to make this Thai noodle recipe (slicing them thinly will lower cooking time, too). The ginger-aminos sauce can also be made ahead of time. If this Thai noodle recipe becomes a favorite (it’s one of ours!), make the sauce in bulk and store it in the refrigerator for up to a week.
Vegan + Gluten-Free Thai Noodle Recipe with Ginger and Zucchini
Ingredients:
For the Thai Noodles:
- Chickpea pasta
- 1 red bell pepper
- 1 zucchini
- 1 yellow squash
- 3 green onions, diced
- 1 lime, quartered
For the ginger-aminos sauce:
- 2 cloves garlic
- ½ inch piece fresh ginger
- ¼ cup liquid aminos
- ¼ cup olive oil
- 1 tablespoon toasted sesame oil
- 2 tablespoons rice vinegar
- 1 teaspoon agave nectar
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- ½ teaspoon paprika
- ¼ teaspoon chipotle powder (optional)
Eco-friendly cookware and tools:
- Bambu Kitchen Basics Utensils
- Large pot
- Non-toxic frying pan (we like cast iron or carbon steel)
- Bambu Cutting Board
- Chef’s knife
- Bambu condiment cups
- Serving bowls
- Bambu Chopsticks
Directions:
- Bring 6 cups of water to a boil, then stir in chickpea pasta and lower heat to a simmer. Stir every 1-2 minutes to ensure the pasta is not sticking. Let cook for 6-8 minutes, or until soft (not mushy).
- While the chickpea pasta is cooking, slice the red bell pepper, zucchini, and yellow squash into thin strips.
- Heat 1 tablespoon of oil in a frying pan over medium heat. Add sliced vegetables and cook for 5-7 minutes, or until slightly softened. Stir every 2 minutes to ensure even cooking.
- Make the ginger-aminos sauce: First, finely dice ginger and garlic. Then mix all ingredients together and let the flavors integrate for a few minutes.
- Once the noodles are cooked, drain and gently rinse with warm water. Then, gently integrate noodles with vegetables. Pour sauce over noodles, mix, and serve. Top each serving with a sprinkle of green onions and a lime wedge. Enjoy this Thai noodle recipe with friends and family!
Serves 4
Why use bamboo cooking utensils?
Bamboo cookware has many benefits, and has been used throughout Asia for thousands of years. As one of the main materials used to make chopsticks, steamers, and other cookware, bamboo naturally fits in with Asian cuisine. Beyond this, cookware and utensils made from bamboo won’t harm, stick to, or scratch your dishes. Searching for cookware that’s safe for your family? Bamboo cookware is naturally non-toxic, and you can be sure that any cookware and bamboo utensils made by Bambu are certified and sustainably sourced. While other bamboo utensils are often made from several pieces of bamboo that need to be glued together and covered with heavy lacquer, bambu crafts all of our utensils from a single piece of organic bamboo. No glue, lacquer, or chemicals needed. As enthusiastic home chefs ourselves, we pride ourselves in only making items we’d use in our own kitchen.
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