Wilted Pad Thai Salad with Shrimp

The drive out to the Brown’s Ranch trailhead was beautiful with the sun rise and a few clouds dotting the sky. It was early Sunday morning and a new trail had been opened up in the area. We decided to hike Granite Mountain Loop, one of the many trails in the Sonoran preserve's northern area. Although the elevation change is only a few hundred feet we saw a difference in the wildlife and plant communities. There was a jack rabbit, mule deer, squirrels and many quail. The trail circled and climbed around Granite Mountain, with views out to the Four Peak mountain range in the east. We had a great time.

I love the crunch of fresh veggies and sprouts in a salad especially after a good workout. Later that day I knew I wanted something fresh and tasty with a lot of flavor. I thought of the Pad Thai I had for takeout a few days before and this brought about the idea of a semi-wilted salad using the same type of ingredients. I used brown rice noodles which were cooked for only a minute or so and then rinsed in cold water. Garlic, ginger and shrimp were stir fried together in the wok, and then the salad ingredients were added with the dressing. Using tongs I turned the mixture in the wok a few times until everything was covered with dressing. The salad was quickly removed and garnished with chopped peanuts, cilantro and parsley. Crushed chilies could be added to the dressing if you like the heat.

Ingredients:

For salad:

2 tablespoons peanut or vegetable oil
3 cloves garlic (minced)
1 tablespoon fresh ginger (minced)
1 pound medium sized shrimp (cleaned, shelled and de-veined)
1 small red bell pepper (thinly sliced)
3 green onions (thinly sliced)
1 1/2 cups bean sprouts
2 stalks celery (thinly sliced)
1/2 cup cilantro (coarsely chopped)
1/4 cup Thai basil (coarsely chopped)
8 ounces brown rice pad Thai noodles

Dressing:

4 tablespoons fresh lime juice
3 tablespoons fish sauce
3 tablespoons brown sugar
Crushed chilies for heat (I did not add)

Garnish:

1/4 cup roasted peanuts (coarsely chopped)
2 tablespoons cilantro (coarsely chopped)
3 green onions (thinly sliced)
1 lime (cut into wedges)

I like to start out a dish like this by having all my ingredients, chopped and prepped beforehand.

Add the ingredients of the dressing in a small bowl, whisk until blended, set aside.

In a large pot; bring 4 quarts of water to a boil, add the brown rice noodles, turn off heat. Stir noodles gently and remove from pot 1 to 2 minutes later from heat. Drain and then rinse under cold water, set aside.

Heat wok over high heat. Add 2 teaspoons peanut oil, garlic, ginger and shrimp. Cook until shrimp are opaque; about 2 to 3 minutes. Remove shrimp from wok.

Add bell pepper, green onion, sprouts, celery, cilantro, basil, noodles and dressing, stir with tongs until completely covered with sauce, add shrimp. Remove from heat. Enjoy!