On our way back from San Diego we stopped to get some late night food in the airport. Usually a completely uninspiring occasion, I was actually pretty taken with the Thai nook in Terminal 2. Though we didn't eat there in favour of the bar (obviously) I've had Pad Thai on my mind ever since.

Arriving home after a red-eye flight full of very unhappy babies and a vast about of conditioned air, we were both feeling pretty ropey so Pad Thai with lots of fresh vegetables seemed to be a pretty sensible dinner option.

As with any of my recipes for foods inspired by countries and traditions apart form my own, this is my take on something that inspired me. Apologies to the entire Thai nation in advance.


Ingredients: Serves 2

1 cup turkey mince
1/2 cup unsalted, roasted peanuts
2 baby bok choi
4 spring onions/scallions
1/2 red onion
handful green/string beans
4 cloves of garlic
Thumb sized piece of fresh garlic
Drizzle of sesame oil
Tablespoon low sodium soy sauce
Juice of half a lime
1 tablespoon of minced lemon grass (I couldn'tget a fresh stalk so used the pre minced stuff which was fine)
2 eggs
Rice noodles (the amount depends on the noodle/vegetable ration you fancy, I used as many as would fit in the circle made by my thumb and index finger)
Salt and pepper

Method:

Cover the rice noodles in boiled water in a bowl and leave to soak for about 20 minutes until al dente.

Finely mince the garlic, ginger and lemon grass (if not already so) and mix together into a fragrant paste. Dollop half of the paste into a frying pan on a medium heat and fry gently for about 2 minutes. Crumble in the turkey mince and fry until it's become white and opaque but not started to colour. Crush the peanuts under a mug so that some are crushed very small and some are merely split in half. Pile the peanuts into the frying pan, season with salt and pepper and continue to fry gently until the turkey has coloured slightly. Turn out the heat and set aside until you are almost ready to plate up.

Finely slice the bok choi, scallions, onion and green beans then stir-fry in the remaining garlic/ginger/lemon grass paste. When the vegetables have wilted a little, splash in the soy sauce and allow to fry away and reduce to nothing. Season with pepper but hold the salt as the soy is quite salty.

Pile in the drained noodles and toss through with tongs, crack and whisk the eggs into a bowl or cup then pour over the hot noodles and vegetables, remove from the heat and leave to stand for 2 minutes so that the egg partially sets.

Turn the heat on under the turkey pan and fry until coloured golden and piping hot.

Toss the vegetables and noodles again to distribute the remaining raw egg and allow it to cook in the residual heat. When the egg is cooked, squeeze over the lime juice and drizzle over the sesame oil, then pile the vegetables and noodles into a dish and pour the turkey and peanuts over the top.

Serve with extra lime wedges for added zing.