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!

Vegan Black Bean Quinoa Burgers

What's better: the scent of freshly mowed grass, or the way the air smells after it rains? I've got both going on right now, and it's lovely.

Check out the garden! We're about 12 weeks in from seed and she's looking great:

Ok, so the eggplant and the celery from seed didn't take, but I bought some organic eggplant and bell pepper plants and they are mighty happy. I also bought Robert three habanero plants that were on sale for $8 total! Pictured here in the white tub:

Say hello to snap peas! 

Can you see them?

On to the recipe! 

I know I've already blogged about Black Bean Burgers here. And they are delicious! But quinoa takes this recipe to a whole new level of texture perfection. Admittedly, I have not been on the quinoa bandwagon. I bought a box, tried it once, and then these ancient grains earned their title by hanging out in my pantry for over a year. But as I was whipping up black bean burger experiment # 103 and digging through the pantry, I decided to forgo the usual breadcrumb filler (after all you are enjoying it between two buns) and use up the quinoa. And pure awesomeness ensued.

Ingredients:

This recipe makes about 12 - 1/4 lb burgers

3 cups of cooked black beans (I made mine from dried, but you can use 2 - 15 oz can of black beans, drained and rinsed)

1/2 cu quinoa (I used red, but any kind will do)

1 cu water

1 T olive oil

1/2 bell pepper

1/2 onion

2 carrots

5 or so mushrooms

3 green onions (You can choose veggies you like or veggies you'd like to use up. This is what I had on hand.)

S and P

1/4 cu vital wheat gluten

1/4 cu corn meal

1/8 cu nutritional yeast

1 T ketchup

1 T mustard

Here we go:

1. Preheat oven to 400° F.. In a small pot, toast the quinoa over medium high heat for 1 - 2 minutes, stirring occasionally. Quiona will have a nutty aroma, but don't burn it! Add 1 cu water and bring to a boil. Lower heat, cover, and let cook for 15 minutes. 

2. Heat 1 T over medium high heat in a nonstick skillet. Dice bell pepper, onion, carrots, and mushrooms and cook for 5 - 7 minutes. Season with S&P to taste and add diced green onions.

3. Add cooked quinoa and veggies to food processor. Pulse a few times, then add cooked black beans, 1/4 cu vital wheat gluten, 1/4 cu corn meal, 1/8 cu nutritional yeast, 1 T ketchup, and 1 T mustard. Pulse until well integrated, but some black beans are still whole.

4. Form into 1/4 lb patties. You could go bigger, but the texture is better on a smaller patty because it cooks through in the oven. Place patties on a baking sheet lined with a silicone mat and bake for 30 minutes, flipping burgers over after 15 minutes. Check patties for firmness and cook longer if need be. You could cook these on the grill as well, but I would precook in the oven to firm up first. They reheat perfectly in the toaster oven while you are toasting the buns!

5. If you'd like, serve these burgers with these amazing whole wheat buns and a side dish of corn hash. Yummy!

Why, yes, that is lettuce from the garden!

Robert had his burger with sauteed jalapenos and BBQ sauce, mine was a classic pickles, lettuce, tomato, and ketchup. But with such a delicious foundation as the black bean quinoa burger, the sky is the limit. Heck, you could form these into meatless meatballs instead of paddies, or fill a loaf pan for some veggie loaf!

Also, they freeze wonderfully, but one taste and you might not be able to save some for later! 

Enjoy!