Kinda Sorta Pad Thai

The inspiration for this dinner was that we had lots of leftover veggies from the Farmer's Market the week prior and though we had been eating/snacking on them, we needed to use them up in one big meal. Will wanted to do something Thai because we now have a Thai basil plant that we've barely used and the leaves were getting quite large. We also have a decent size container of Thai garlic chili paste and lots of other Thai-friendly ingredients on hand, which makes it easy to throw a dish together. Plus, Will's just creative in the kitchen.

Now, the reason we can't call this legitimate Pad Thai is because PT uses rice noodles and Will used Soba noodles, which are Japanese and made from buckwheat. We also didn't use a lot of the normal PT veggies because the whole point was to use what we had on hand, without having to get anything else. So what essentially ended up happening is that Will made a PT sauce and stir-fried some veggies, and thus it became "Kinda Sorta Pad Thai."

Kinda Sorta Pad Thai (serves 2 large portions)
1 1/2 cups sugar snap peas
1 medium carrot, chopped into long slices
Stems from 1 bunch of kale, thinly diced
2 baby Bella mushrooms, sliced
2 cloves garlic, diced
1-2 tbsp sunflower oil for veggies (peanut oil preferred)
8 oz. Japanese Soba noodles
2 tbsp fish sauce
1 tbsp honey
2 tbsp rice vinegar
1/2 tsp toasted sesame oil
1/2 tbsp Thai garlic chili paste
Handful of Thai basil leaves, fresh
Lime juice, to top
Sriracha, to top
Crushed almonds, to top

Cook noodles according to package directions. Combine liquid ingredients (fish sauce, honey, vinegar, toasted sesame oil, garlic chili paste) in a small sauce pan and bring to a simmer over medium-low heat. Once the sauce has been simmering for a few minutes and the noodles look close to being done, begin to warm sunflower oil in a frying pan or wok. Once oil is shimmery, add veggies (snap peas, carrot, kale stems, mushrooms, garlic) and saute to your liking, 3-5 minutes.

Drain the noodles and return to the pot. Combine sauce and veggies with the noodles, stirring to mix well. Serve with fresh Thai basil, crushed almonds, lime juice and sriracha.