On Mondays and Thursdays, I offer lunch ideas to help inspire healthier choices for lunch or to just open people up to new things. On Mondays, the theme is Meatless Mondays for those who want to try more vegetables or want to try skipping meat one day a week. On Thursdays, it's anything goes!
For a Meatless Monday lunch idea, try Vegetable Pad Thai. This particular dish I got from Pei Wei here in Phoenix. But everywhere else, you can order this vegetable Pad Thai in any Thai restaurant. My Pad Thai had brocoli, snap peas, scallions, carrots, and tofu. If you want to cut out some calories and soy product, nix the tofu.
One benefit of Pad Thai over say Chow Mein is that Pad Thai is traditionally made with rice noodles and Chow Mein is made with egg/wheat noodles. Rice noodles are lower in fat and cholesterol, and are animal-free.
Many traditional Vegetable Pad Thai recipes are not necessarily gluten-free or vegetarian because soy sauce contains gluten and fish sauce can be used in the dish. However, ask the restaurant if they can use gluten-free soy sauce, and ask to see if they can make their pad Thai sauce without fish sauce. As well, trying a meat-free day of cow, chicken, or turkey is worth giving your digestive system a break.
To cut more fat and calories, and animal products from Pad Thai, I ask them to keep the egg out. The peanuts add protein and is good source of monounsaturated fats which are beneficial for the heart. However, if you want to slim down more fat and calories off your Pad Thai, nix the peanut topping as well.
Many Pad Thai dishes also come in portions large enough to serve 2-3, so half your dish, and take the rest to-go for dinner or for lunch the next day.
Enjoy!
