Chicken Pad Thai

I think I've mentioned my love of Chinese food once or twice around these parts. Going gluten free has meant not so much eating out of Chinese food, but the asian aisle at the grocery store is surprisingly gluten free friendly!! I made my own pad thai this past weekend and then ate it for lunch for most of the week! 

There are some pad thai sauces that are out there and gluten free, but I already had the La Choy orange ginger one in my pantry, so I just chose that one! 
The real necessity for this recipe is browning the chicken. The first picture is right when I toss the chicken in.. aka raw. The second picture is where the chicken is cooked, but do not take it off yet!!! I really prefer my chicken almost burnt... (in my family we'd quote this: "I like my chicken like I like my men"...) so the last picture is when most people will take it off. I left mine on for another 4 minutes. I cook the chicken on medium to make sure it's all cooked through, then I turn up the heat to start the browning. The other trick is to not continuously stir. Let it sit, stirring occasionally, to get that pretty brown color! I think it adds so much more flavor and also feels a little more like fried chicken... but not! 

The only thing I added that I forgot in my originally picture is the green onions, which is a favorite part of mine. The Pei Wei version adds tofu and I really enjoy that addition as well! You could totally customize your pad thai to include whatever you want! 

I didn't make a recipe because it's as simple as browning the chicken, boiling the noodles, crushing some peanuts, opening the can of bean sprouts, chopping some green onions, opening the sauce, and throwing it all into one pan! 

Happy Friday!! Enjoy your weekend and this delicious pad thai!!!