Huauzontle Chicken Pad Thai

Making Budget Eats is always fun and challenging, but this low FODMAP week was particularly difficult: how do you make food taste good without onions and garlic?

If you're in search of a more classic pad thai, you've come to the wrong page. This recipe emerged out of happenstance and random chaos as most Budget Eats recipes do: without shrimp, I settled for a chunk of belacan and generous dashes of fish sauce to up the umami factor. Instead of using lime or tamarind, I subbed in orange juice and rice wine vinegar. Bok choy and huauzontle stood in for the usual bean sprouts and garlic chives and this experimental version was born.

Did I enjoy it? Absolutely. This was the highest-rated meal out of my entire week. Was it an ideal pad thai? Without copious amounts of aromatic alliums like shallots and nary a drop of chili peppers or chili oil in sight, definitely not. But it's nice to know that, in a pinch, you could make do with what you have, and it might not be all that bad.