Need help - easy Thai food recipes

[savingtofreedom]

Hello,

I am having some serious cravings for thai food and I really want to make it at home.  Thai Takeout around here is not cheap.  Does anyone have any relatively easy  recipes they have tried that are delicious?  I have googled the interwebs but there are so many options I find it overwhelming to choose which ones to attempt. 

Recipes I am looking for:

-Pad Thai
-Basil Chicken - Gai Pad Grapow
- Drunken Noodles
- Pad Prik
- Papaya Salad

I don't really like curry or coconut but would be open to other dishes.  I live near multiple asian markets so I have access to the typical ingredients.  I also tend to add lots of extra veggies to these dishes.

I like medium spicy and not bland.

Thanks in advance!!

[wheatstate]

http://www.theppk.com/2010/12/red-lentil-thai-chili/

I like this Thai chili, because it makes a ton, prepares fast and has great flavor.  It, also, is affordable with few special ingredients.  I look forward to other people's responses, because Thai food is delicious.

Olive oil (1 teaspoon to 2 tablespoons, however much you feel like using)
1 large yellow onion, diced medium
1 red bell pepper, seeded and diced medium
3 cloves garlic, minced
2 tablespoons chili powder
1 ½ lbs sweet potatoes cut into ¾ inch chunks
1 cup red lentils
1 teaspoon salt
4 cups vegetable broth
2 15 oz cans kidney beans, drained and rinsed
2 tablespoons Thai red curry paste
1 15 oz can lowfat coconut milk
28 oz can diced tomatoes
½ cup fresh cilantro, plus extra for garnish
Limes for garnish (optional)

Preheat a 4-quart pot over medium heat. Saute onions and pepper in oil with a pinch of salt, for 5 to 7 minutes. Add garlic and saute a minute more.

Add chili powder, sweet potatoes, lentils, salt and vegetable broth. Cover and bring to a boil. Let it boil for 15 to 20 minutes, stirring occasionally to prevent burning. When lentils are cooked and sweet potatoes are tender, add the remaining ingredients and heat through.

Taste for salt and seasoning, top with cilantro and lime and serve!

[totoro]

The OP doesn't like curry or coconut!  Just a reminder before you post more curry/coconut recipes :).  I was going to suggest one too.

[stevesteve]

Here's one I like that I got filtered through a bunch of people.  Pretty easy and no curry or coconut!

noodles (linguine works well)
half an onion, diced
3 cloves of garlic, minced/pressed
1 T. fresh ginger, minced small small
2 T. sesame oil

¼ c. honey
¼ c. creamy peanut butter
2 T. Soy sauce
1 T. Fish sauce
3 t. unseasoned rice vinegar

1 bunch of green onions, diced
1 cup roasted unsalted peanuts, chopped up a bit
2 large carrots, grated (optional)
1 cup of washed bean sprouts (optional)

Directions:
1) Cook up the noodles. 
2) In a sauce or frying pan, cook the onions, garlic, and ginger in the sesame oil.
3) In a bowl, whisk to combine the honey, peanut butter, soy sauce, fish sauce, and rice vinegar.  Whisk.
4) Add it to the frying pan and heat it all through.  For spice, add dried chili powder.
5) In a large bowl, put the cooked noodles with the green onions, carrot.
6) Pour the sauce over noodles and vegetables and toss to coat everything well.
7) Refrigerate for a few hours, toss before serving.
8) Lime juice is pretty good over it.

[savingtofreedom]

Thanks for the recipes - if I ever get into curry I will try your recipe wheatstate.

stevesteve - this sounds good - it is pretty similar to a spicy peanut noodle recipe I used to make from cooking light.

[FrugalZony]

I love, love, love this one! http://fakeginger.com/2010/10/21/tofu-pad-thai/
Actually made it tonight! I usually leave out the sugar, still comes out great.

Sometimes when I am too lazy to fry the tofu, I'll just forego the tofu and put in an extra egg (like tonight)
It really only is good when the tofu is crispy, not spongy!

Of course you can use meat or seafood instead of the tofu as well
And I like that you can play with the spicyness. I prepare on a general
level for us and then put the chili paste on the table, so those who prefer more spicy can
adapt as they wish.

[Gerard]

You can make a decent fake-y basil chicken (or pork) by just adding thai basil at the last minute to any soy-garlic Asian type recipe. For example:
Brown cubed meat (about a pound) in a couple of tablespoons of oil (do in batches if necessary, so that meat pieces don't touch... otherwise they'll steam instead of browning). Add anywhere between two cloves and a whole head of garlic, coarsely chopped, and fry for another minute. Add half a cup of vinegar (seriously!), a quarter cup of soy sauce (or a mix of soy and fish sauce), a splash of sambal or other hot sauce, and up to a quarter cup of sugar or honey. Lower heat and simmer, covered loosely, until meat is tender (as little as five minutes for chicken breast or pork tenderloin, up to an hour for pork shoulder/butt, somewhere in between for chicken thighs). Add a splash of water if it dries out. When meat is tender, remove lid and increase heat to reduce sauce to a sort of syrup, if necessary. You now have something similar to a Filipino adobo. To make it into Thai basil stuff, add 20 or 30 leaves of Thai basil. Serve over rice or noodles.

[ScottEric]

Thanks for the recipes - if I ever get into curry I will try your recipe wheatstate.

stevesteve - this sounds good - it is pretty similar to a spicy peanut noodle recipe I used to make from cooking light.

I love that you asked for a papaya salad recipe, som tum is my wife's favorite and it's not very hard to make.  There is a lot of adding "to taste" in it, but this basic recipe looks like what we'd usually do.

http://shesimmers.com/2010/06/som-tam-tutorial-how-to-make-thai-green.html