Gluten Free Thai Peanut Noodles With Chicken

I love Thai food. It is probably one of my favourite cuisines, after Middle Eastern food...and maybe Italian. Since moving to the US, I have struggled to find Thai food that lives up to my picky Australian standards (Sydney has the best Thai food...according to Thai people, apparently). Not only that, it's pretty much full of things that I am allergic to and make me fat. Kind of worth it if it tastes ah-mah-zing, not worth it if it is sub-par. It also takes 90 minutes to arrive. 

Well, if you love Thai food and adore a sneaky lazy take-out, this might just be the meal for you! This noodle dish is around 400 calories for the whole shebang including bok choy, tastes pretty amazing and is entirely gluten free and is easy to make soy-free, to boot. It is also 3 times as fast as ordering in if you buy or have cooked chicken on hand. 

Ingredients: 

• 8oz brown rice noodles (I used Annie Chan's Gluten Free)
• 5 tablespoons fresh lime juice
• 1 tablespoons fish sauce
• 3 tablespoons low sodium tamari sauce (Use coconut aminos if avoiding soy)
• 4 tablespoons chunky peanut butter 
• 1 tablespoon brown sugar
• 3 drops stevia 
• 1/2 red chilli pepper, deseeded and finely chopped
• 1 cup cooked chicken, finely sliced (I recommend poaching chicken) 
• 1 small red bell pepper, finely julienned 
• 1/2 cup scallions, finely sliced
• 1/4 cup fresh basil (Thai if you can get it), chopped
• 1/4 cup fresh cilantro, chopped
• 1/4 cup fresh mint, chopped
• 1 tablespoon chopped peanuts for garnish 
• 4 heads baby bok choy, separated

Instructions: 

1. Cook brown rice noodles according to package directions. 
2. While noodles are cooking, whisk together peanut butter and lime juice. 
3. Keep aside 1/4 cup of the peanut sauce. 
4. When there is 2 minutes left of the noodle 'clock', put bok choy in a steamer basket above noodles and cook for 2 minutes. 
5. Whisk in the rest of the ingredients into sauce, including your fresh herbs. 
6. Toss noodles with chicken and sauce. 
7. Pour a tablespoon of spare sauce over bok choy. 
8. Garnish noodles with crushed peanuts, fresh cilantro and a drizzle of extra sauce and enjoy! 

This recipe was inspired by Kelly over at Eat Yourself Skinny