Never-ending Noodles

Can you think of a food you love that you wish you could eat in endless portions without a care in the world? I'm sure we all can and may share one food that comes to our minds, noodles. Noodles of all varieties are just so good and satisfying but definitely cannot be eaten endlessly, well maybe until now. We've created for you this week an amazing recipe featuring an almost calorie free and never-ending noodle. But how is this even possible? Read on!

So this seemingly impossible noodle became a reality because of a unique vegetable, the daikon radish (pictured above). The daikon radish is a root vegetable used widely in Asian cooking and also called the Japanese horseradish. Though popular in especially Southeast Asian cuisine, this vegetable is grown and available around the world. The daikon radish has a crunchy texture and more mild radish flavor compared to the commonly known red radish. It's high fiber and water content make it a very low calorie food with just 6 calories per ounce or about 50-60 calories per radish, though this can vary because daikon radishes can grow up to 20 inches long! For this recipe we chose large daikon radishes and used our spiralizer (featured in this recipe) to create insanely long, basically never-ending, low-calorie noodles. See, it is possible! 

Also a note that this recipe is completely raw so we used liquid aminos (basically a raw version of soy sauce) and made our own peanut butter from raw peanuts. Though if you aren't heart-set on making this a raw dish yourself, feel free to use standard soy sauce or tamari and natural, roasted peanut butter as substitutes to simplify (it's okay really!). 

Raw Peanut Pad Thai
PREP TIME: 30 mins
TOTAL TIME: 35 mins
Servings: 6

Ingredients
Noodle Bowl
3 large daikon radishes, ~10 cups of noodles once spiralized
2 medium zucchini, ~3.5 cups diced
2 small red peppers, ~1 cup diced
2 green onions, cut on the bias
1 medium carrot, ~1 cup julienned
1 medium mango, ~1 cup cubed
1 1/2 cups raw, shelled edamame
1/2 cup raw peanuts, chopped
1/4 cup cilantro, chopped
6 lime wedges to serve

Marinade
1/8 cup fresh lime juice
1/4 cup liquid aminos
1 clove garlic, minced
1/8 tsp dehydrated red pepper flakes

Dressing
1/3 cup raw peanut butter *If making your own you will need 1 cup of raw unsalted peanuts
1/4 cup reserved marinade
Juice of 1 lime
1 Tbsp raw clover honey
1 Tbsp room temperature water
1 tsp liquid aminos
1/4 tsp dehydrated red pepper flakes  

Cut zucchini and bell pepper into small cubes and place in a bowl. Mix together marinade ingredients, pour over zucchini and pepper cubes, and allow to marinate for at least 15 minutes. Peel radishes then using a spiralizer with the thin noodle insert, process radishes into noodles and place in a very large mixing bowl. Peel carrot, thinly cut julienne style, and add to the bowl of noodles. Peel and cut mango into small cubes then add to the bowl of noodles along with the shelled edamame and green onion.  Strain zucchini and peppers from marinade, add to the bowl of noodles, and set reserved liquid aside.  Gently toss all ingredients together.

If making your own raw peanut butter, in a high speed blender add 1 cup of raw unsalted peanuts and process on high for 5 minutes until a creamy butter is formed. To make the peanut dressing, combine 1/3 cup raw peanut butter, 1/4 cup reserved marinade, juice of 1 lime, 1 Tbsp honey, 1 Tbsp water, 1 tsp liquid aminos, and 1/4 tsp dehydrated red pepper flakes. Whisk to combine and set aside.

Pour dressing over noodle  bowl and gently toss to combine making sure to incorporate dressing all the way down to the bottom of the bowl. Add chopped raw peanuts and chopped cilantro to the top. Divide into 6 bowls and serve with a lime wedge and a pair of chop sticks. *If you do not plan to serve the whole salad at once, pour dressing over the portion you plan to eat and reserve remaining dressing in an air tight container for later use. The raw vegetables will keep in an air tight container for ~3-5 days in the refrigerator.

This raw pad thai is going to blow your mind. The noodles are crunchy with a mild radish flavor and go on and on until you've had your noodle fill. The variety of raw veggies in different preparations keeps things interesting, and the salty, raw peanut sauce slathers everything in decadent goodness. We just love this recipe and hope we've made your endless noodle dreams come true.

Enjoy,
​Jess and Cecelia