Shrimp Pad not-quite-Thai

Continuing my week of healthy recipes, I moved on to Cooking Light. It's a great magazine, but I feel they are a little ridiculous in their ingredients some times. Whereas ATK kept the spices easy (red pepper flakes, garlic, and salt in all recipes), Cooking Light might have you searching the grocery store for the random ethnic spice you've never heard of before.

I couldn't pass up this recipe, though, because I've sworn off ethnic take out because of the sodium and my tendency to eat three or four times a normal portion. But Pad Thai sounded perfect. PLUS it only takes 25 minutes.

The results were tasty--although I'm not sure how authentic it was to great Thai takeout. I'm guessing half of it was the fact I couldn't find FLAT rice noodles (damn you crazy ingredients Safeway doesn't has!) and the other half of it was that the sauce was probably lightened.

from MyRecipes.com

Shrimp Pad Thai
Cooking Light, March 2011
Calories 462, Fat 16.1g, protein 15.8g, carb 64.3g, sodium 779 mg

• 8 ounces uncooked flat rice noodles (pad Thai noodles)
• 2 T. dark brown sugar
• 2 T.  lower-sodium soy sauce
• 1.5 T. fish sauce
• 1.5 T.  fresh lime juice
• 1 T.  Sriracha or chili garlic sauce
• 3 T.  canola oil
• 1 cup (2-inch) green onion pieces
• 8 ounces peeled and deveined large shrimp
• 5 garlic cloves, minced
• 1 cup fresh bean sprouts
• 1/4 cup chopped unsalted dry-roasted peanuts
• 3 T.  thinly sliced fresh basil

1. Cook noodles according to package directions; drain.
2. While water comes to a boil, combine sugar and next 4 ingredients (through Sriracha) in a small bowl.
3. Heat a large skillet or wok over medium-high heat. Add oil to pan; swirl to coat. Add onion pieces, shrimp, and garlic; stir-fry 2 minutes or until shrimp is almost done. Add cooked noodles; toss to combine. Stir in sauce; cook 1 minute, stirring constantly to combine. Arrange about 1 cup noodle mixture on each of 4 plates; top each serving with 1/4 cup bean sprouts, 1 tablespoon peanuts, and 2 teaspoons basil