Thai Noodle Bowl from reFresh!

Usually Sunday nights roll around and all I want to do is order pizza or eat left overs. You can imagine my surprise, then, when I felt completely excited to make real food this week. I had just about all I needed to make this dish I've been meaning to try from my newest vegan cookbook, so I embarked upon creating delicious for Paul and I yet again.

I can't lie. This is one of the best things I've made since V-day. The recipe is from reFresh, by Ruth Tal, and it is probably the closest thing I've found to my old favorite, Pad Thai. It features a richly flavored, reddish-orange sauce tossed with rice noodles, marinated tofu, tomatoes, etc, and it gets topped with bean sprouts, peanuts and cilantro.

I forgot to take the pic before I dug in! 

The most interesting part of the sauce is that it has a carrot juice base. The key spices are paprika, chili powder, ginger and garlic. It also calls for lemon juice and a bit of lemon grass, something slightly harder to find. I got mine at Whole Foods, but they have it at local asian markets as well. There are a few other ingredients that help make the dish complete, but they seem relatively interchangeable, especially the stuff you're tossing in the wok at the end.

If you have the chance, pick this book up just to try this recipe-- it's divine and quite filling. I had leftovers for lunch the next day. :)