Monday Night Shrimp Pad Thai - Low Carb Style

Okay. Real talk. I love asian food. There's a fantastic restaurant near our house that does Asian/Mexican cuisine. They do wonton chip nachos with Korean barbecued beef. I could eat it forever. Squirt a little Sriracha on there and it's game over.

Anyway, back to Asian cuisine. Last night I attempted (quite successfully I might say...just a little humble-brag) Chinese fried rice and Korean short ribs, but for a low-carb option, I subbed out the rice for chopped up cauliflower. I decided to keep the Asian cuisine train going tonight, partially because it was so good last night, and partially because I've been up since 5am and I couldn't fathom cooking anything complicated. This dish came out SO TASTY that I super-highly recommend it. Ready? Okay let's do this....

You will need:

- 3-4 medium sized green zucchini, washed and "noodled" (I'll explain later)
- Store-bought Pad Thai sauce (don't judge me, I've been up since 5am, remember?)
- a small handfull of salted peanuts
- 1/2 pound of shrimp, de-veined
- small bunch of scallions (green onions) chopped
- olive oil (or oil of your choice)

Step 1: Use your fancy Kuhn Rikon veggie peeler to turn your zucchini into pretty little noodles. If you don't have a Kuhn Rikon peeler, I don't care. I'm not the Barefoot Contessa, I'm not going to give you a guilt trip about not hiking to the dark side of the Himilayas to harvest exotic vanilla. You could use a cheese grater, or use a kitchen knife to make long thin pappardelle like noodles. Go for it. I will say, though, the Kuhn Rikon is pretty fun to use. This gadget is awesome! I might need to try carrot noodles at some point. I can see it working with some kind of balsamic glaze, maybe some toasted sesame seeds and chopped red onions...hmmmm

Step 2: chop up those peanuts. I used one of those handy little slap-choppers. You don't want them too small, just small enough to sprinkle over your noodles before you devour them. 

Pretty ingredients on my pretty bamboo cutting board. This is art, my friends. 

Step 3 & 4: Toss those lovely little zucchini noodles, which I like to call Zoodles, into a frying pan and toss them on high heat for a couple of minutes, ONLY until they're slightly softer than raw. These will over-cook really fast, I pinky-swear. Once they're soft, take them out and throw them in a collander to drain the extra liquid. While those are draining, throw your peeled de-veined shrimp and a little drizzle of olive oil into the hot frying pan and make sure they're cooked on both sides. Once they're mostly cooked, throw in about 1/2 cup of your pre-made store-bought non-judgmental Pad Thai sauce. Once the noodles have drained, turn off the heat cooking the shrimp and toss the zucchini noodles back in to the pan and toss together. 

Step 5: throw a bunch of zucchini noodles and shrimp into a shallow bowl. Top with some peanuts, and a nice handful of scallions. Grab a fork (or a nice pair of lacquered chopsticks) and go to town on that bowl of zucchini noodle goodness. 

After all, it's Monday, and you've been up since 5am. And it was cold outside. Pour yourself a little glass of Pinot Noir to wash it down if you feel like you need it. No judgment.