savouring the end of summer: raw pad thai.

Food can say many wonderful things. In the last 24 hours I’ve received two food gifts! Friends from down the road dropped by with a jar of homemade beef barley soup (homemade broth from the marrow too) plus slow roasted chicken, vegetables and wild rice. It was perfect timing, since I came down with a cold that day.

The second gift came in the mail this morning, all the way from Sweden. My lovely friend sent a little package, and in it there was a cone shaped bag of golden honey fudge tied with a string. It was a little smushed, but tasted sweet and fresh, like it was made with love the day before. She noted that it was free of preservatives and gelatin and all natural. You can taste the quality of the honey, the work of the bees. It reminds me of a beautiful quote from Ray Bradbury from Dandelion Wine: “Bees do have a smell, you know and if they don’t they should, for their feet are dusted with spices from a million flowers.”

And so, I offer a little recipe that I love, love, love. I recently purchased a julienne peeler for $5, and it is worth every penny! It has turned my overgrown garden zucchinis into beautiful pasta! Now I love pad thai, but it is really just a whole lot of sugar, especially if ordered from a local Thai takeout joint. White rice noodles and pad thai sauce…oh, so good, but it’s a treat! This version is very healthy and it’s raw. We don’t eat raw food often, but if we do, it has to be good!

Raw Pad Thai with Zucchini Noodles.

• 1 medium zucchini
• 1 large carrot
• 1 1/2 cups bean sprouts
• 2 green onions, diced

For the sauce:

• 2 tbsp tahini (I used a hemp tahini blend)
• 2 tbsp almond butter
• 1 tbsp lime or lemon juice
• 2 tbsp tamari
• 1 tbsp raw honey
• 1 clove garlic, pressed
• 1 tsp fresh ginger, grated

Use a vegetable peeler if you don’t have a julienne peeler to create noodles from the zucchini and carrot. Squeeze a little lemon over the “noodles”. Mix together with the bean sprouts. You can add other vegetables you may have on hand too, like cauliflower or broccoli or shredded cabbage.

Whisk the sauce ingredients in a bowl. Pour over the vegetables and mix well with tongs. The sauce is thick, but will thin out amongst the vegetables. This can “marinate” until the next day if you like, which allows the flavours to mingle.

We’ll be enjoying this tonight along with some vegan coconut milk ginger ice cream (since I splurged and bought an ice cream maker. Finally).