In August I eat salads, grill, or do quick stove-top meals. Quick Pad Thai is one of those stove-top all-in-one meals I usually serve in a bowl. We modeled it after the street food in Thailand but with ingredients you can easily find in the Midwest. Ours uses whole wheat spaghetti but you could use the more traditional rice noodles. When I make this in the summer I use whatever vegetables are ready in the garden and in the winter I use frozen vegetables. Bright colored veggies such as red pepper, broccoli, and snap peas look great.

I use either chunky or smooth peanut butter, whatever I have open and I make light soy sauce by mixing equal parts water and regular soy sauce.

One caution, after you cut up the chicken make sure you wash the cutting board knife and your hands with hot water and soap so you don’t transfer bacteria to the other ingredients.

Quick Pad Thai

Serving Size: 1 1/4 cups | Serves: 6 | Cost Per Serving: $1.06

Ingredients: 

• 6 ounces whole wheat thin spaghetti
• 2 tablespoons vegetable oil, divided
• 24 ounces frozen vegetable mix or chopped fresh veggies
• 3 tablespoons light soy sauce
• 1/4 cup water
• 1/4 cup peanut butter
• 2 tablespoons sugar
• 1/2 pound boneless chicken breast, cut into bite-sized pieces
• 3 eggs
• 1/3 cup chopped peanuts

Instructions: 

1. Cook spaghetti according to package directions. Drain in colander and toss with 1 tablespoon oil.
2. Defrost vegetables in microwave for 5 minutes and drain well (as spaghetti cooks).
3. Combine soy sauce, water, peanut butter, and sugar in a small bowl. Stir until smooth and set aside.
4. Heat 1 tablespoon of oil in large skillet over medium high heat. Add chicken pieces and cook and stir until no longer pink (heat chicken to at least 165°F).
5. Crack eggs into a small bowl and beat. Add to pan with chicken and scramble until firm. Add the vegetables and spaghetti to the pan with the chicken mixture. Stir to heat through.
6. Add the soy sauce mixture to the pan and stir to coat veggies and spaghetti.
7. Place in serving bowl and sprinkle peanuts on top.