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sesame soba noodles recipe (vegan)
recipe by mb
what I was looking for
We've had a couple of real live summer days here (95 degrees) and I wanted something low‑effort to prepare and very cleansing and cooling to eat.
what I made
I used Nigella Lawson's recipe for soba noodles with sesame seeds from Forever Summer (pgs. 48-49). But, since I thought Nigella's recipe could use a little sprucing up, I made it much more like Heidi Swanson's recipe for otsu from Super Natural Cooking.
chit-chat
Heidi Swanson's otsu is now one of my all-time favorite dishes. It's a recipe for soba noodles and tofu and vegetables covered in a light sesame sauce. When I saw that Nigella had a recipe for something similar I decided to try it. But her version of this dish is so colorless and bland and boring next to Heidi's that I had to combine the two.
Who knows ... maybe Nigella will see this, realize the error of her ways, and start adding loads of vegetables to her sesame soba noodles from now on.
grades for my version
| healthy | A | Soba noodles are made from a whole grain and the way I made this recipe it's filled with vegetables, so it's very nicely healthy. |
| fast | B | Cutting up lots of veggies into small pieces is a little time consuming, but then it all comes together quickly. |
| easy | A | A total breeze. |
| cheap | A | Nothing in this is expensive. |
| delicious | A | When I was done with it? Utterly fantastic. |
yield
Serves two with generously sized portions.
equipment
a pasta pot
a colander
a knife
a large bowl
a small bowl
a fork
the soba
| ingredients | Lawson | mb | why? |
| soba noodles | 8 oz. | 6 oz. | weight/healthier [1] |
| Notes | |||
| [1] | Soba noodles are higher calorie than vegetables, so I am increasing the number of vegetables in this recipe and decreasing the amount of soba noodles. (This could also be classified as tastier, and cheaper.) | ||
Heat a pasta pot full of water until it's boiling and then add the soba noodles. Let them
cook until they are al dente and have not yet begun to get mushy at all (which happens when
you overcook them). This should take about 6 minutes.
Strain the soba noodles through your colander, rinse them with cold water, put them into the
large bowl, and set them aside for now.
the veggies
| ingredients | Lawson | mb | why? |
| cucumber | --- | 1 medium sized, cut into thin strips |
weight/healthier |
| red bell pepper | --- | 1 medium sized, cut into thin strips |
weight/healthier |
| broccoli | --- | 1 small head, cut into florets |
weight/healthier |
| scallions | 5 stalks, finely sliced |
3 stalks, finely sliced |
tastier [1] |
| Notes | |||
| [1] | I didn't want the taste of the scallions to overwhelm the taste of everything else, so I cut down the number a little bit. | ||
Add all the cut vegetables to the large bowl which already has the soba noodles in it and
then put it aside for right now.
the sauce
| ingredients | Lawson | mb | why? |
| acid | 2 teaspoons rice vinegar | 2 teaspoons lemon juice | tastier [1] |
| soy sauce | 5 teaspoons | 5 teaspoons | no change |
| honey | 2 teaspoons | --- | tastier [2] |
| sesame oil | 2 teaspoons | 1 Tablespoon | tastier [3] |
| sesame seeds | ⅓ cup, raw |
⅓ cup, toasted |
easier [4] |
| Notes | |||
| [1] | Lemon juice feels more summery to me. | ||
| [2] | For something like this that's supposed to be cooling and refreshing I really hate adding a sweetener. I feel like it detracts from the taste and the experience. | ||
| [3] | I wanted to stretch the sesame flavor, and since I added so many vegetables, I thought this was totally reasonable. Yum. | ||
| [4] | Nigella would have us buy raw sesame seeds and toast them ourselves. | ||
In your small bowl mix all of the above ingredients thoroughly. Then drizzle the sauce over
the bowl of veggies and noodles and toss. Garnish with the sesame seeds (if you can remember to)
and serve immediately.
Questions? Comments? Corrections?
Suggestions? Contributions?
Please let us know!
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