Friday, September 13, 2013

Quick & Easies: Super Soba Salad

Hello there! It's been so long, I hardly recognize you!

First, a quick garden update:

The first two seasons of square foot gardening have been a successful and educational adventure! I will post the full journey and lessons learned soon, but here are the highlights.

The garden produced an abundance of collards, kale, basil, and beets; all mine for the cooking! The okra, bell peppers, habenero, jalapeno, and eggplant are still going strong, but I've planted the fall garden in the empty spaces - more beets, carrots, collards, and kale (these are cool weather crops, good for early spring and fall), as well as spinach, daikon courtesy of my generous friend Amy, and my almost ready to harvest black eyed peas. I hope the collards catch up, because I can't have one without the other!

Some Summer highlights:

Kale - I've planted more in the Fall garden - it tastes even better when exposed to frost! It's used in the delicious recipe below, so I know I'll be using plenty of it!

I didn't get many Heirloom tomatoes, but every one was more delicious than the last and worth every ounce of patience. I have one left and debating on whether to let it ripen, or fry it still green. 

Habeneros are notoriously hot, and these puppies are much hotter than what you get in the store. I guess that long truck ride zaps some of the spice. I've got more of these than I know what to do with - 20 so far and counting!


One of my favorites, these okra are going to become gumbo soon enough!


Now, on to the Super Soba Salad! Nine easy ingredients, and with a little boiling water and whisking, in 15 minutes or less you've got a salad worth of a main course!

Chopsticks optional.

Let's make it!

Ingredients: This recipes makes a a salad for two, double the recipe for 
Dressing:
1 T honey
2 T rice vinegar
2 t low sodium soy sauce (or the regular stuff, or tamari, or Braggs, or... you get the idea!)








Salad:
2 bundles of Soba Noodles (These typically come preportioned 4 gently wrapped bundles to a bag. I use one bundle per serving.)
1 cu thinly shredded kale
1 cu thinly shredded red cabbage
1/2 cu shredded carrot (about 1 carrot worth)
1 scallion, sliced into thin rings
1 T toasted sesame seeds



Soba Note: Soba noodles are easy to find these days in the Asian section of just about any grocery store. I buy the organic ones from Whole Foods. Fiber rich, these noodles made from buckwheat are an excellent choice to satisfy that carb craving.

5 Quick & Easy Steps:
1. Boil water and cook the soba noodles. Most recipes tell you to "follow the package directions," but I've always found that the directions tell you to cook it for way too long. These noodles just need a good stir and then 2 or 3 minutes in the water and that's it! Drain and rinse under cold water.
2. Whisk together the 2 T rice vinegar, 2 T soy sauce, and 1 T honey in a large bowl. Add the kale, cabbage, carrots and toss with tongs.
3. Add the soba noodles to the cabbage dressing mix and toss to combine.
4. Top with sesame seeds and scallions.
5. Enjoy!

Note: Although modified, I must confess that I gained inspiration from a Whole Foods recipe in the store. And I am so glad I did!