A Try at Thai

I LOVE Thai food as does my husband, but it always seemed like such a daunting task to make - so many ingredients, so many steps, just too hard (I feel the same way about Korean food, but will try my hand at that later in the week).  Well, I found a healthy version that didn't seem TOO labor intensive and decided I'd finally give it a try.  The Mr. was very excited when I told him what I was going to make - thai coconut shrimp with rice noodles!

Recipe modified from one found in Clean Eating magazine (shocker, I know - it is just such a GREAT magazine)!

1 pkg brown rice noodles (Asian food aisle)
2 cups broccoli florets
2/3 cup light coconut milk
1 tbsp tomato sauce
3 tbsp peanut butter (I used fresh ground)
1 tsp ground ginger
4 cloves garlic, minced
1/2 tsp red pepper flakes (more if you like extra heat)
juice of 1 lime
1 cup bean sprouts
1 lb raw shrimp, tails removed

Cook noodles according to directions.  Rinse in hot water, drain, set aside.  Boil broccoli florets for 5 minutes, drain, set aside.

Combine coconut milk, sauce, peanut butter, ginger, garlic, pepper flakes and lime juice in a bowl.  Mix to thoroughly combine.

Simmer coconut mixture and bean sprouts for 5 minutes, stirring often.  Add shrimp and broccoli and cook until done.  Add noodles to the shrimp mixture and serve it up while hot!  Made just enough for 4 servings.

This was absolutely delicious!!  My husband said he wished he was more hungry just so he could keep eating (he did take the leftovers with him to work today).  The rice noodles did get a little sticky so I'm not sure if I overcooked them a bit or didn't rinse them enough, but it definitely did not affect the flavor.

Kids review:  They were not home, but I KNOW my son would eat this.  My daughter decided she doesn't like shrimp (or anything else for that matter) right now, but she would probably eat the noodles and I would add some cubed chicken.  I will make this again and use this fabulous sauce for other dishes like chicken and peas!

Nutritional info (approximate):  338 calories; 9g total fat; 2g sat fat; 48g carbs; 6g fiber; 20g protein; 55mg cholesterol; 2.5g sugars