Orange Soba Noodle Salad (and a meal plan)
CATEGORIES
INGREDIENTS
- Servings: 5
- 1 pkg. soba noodles (a normal spaghetti box’s worth of them)
- 2 oranges
- 4 green onions (or more to taste)
- 2 carrots
- 1/2 tsp. ginger (or more to taste)
- 2 T Bragg’s (you could use soy sauce)–or more or less to taste
- 1 T sesame oil
- 1/2 c. big sprouts (I used sunflower ones, which tasted very green)
- sesame seeds (or some type of nuts)
- chopped cilantro (optional)
DIRECTIONS
- Heat a big pot of water to boiling for your soba noodles.
- In the meantime, squeeze the juice from one orange into a large, non-reactive bowl. Peel the other orange and cut it into small, half-bite size pieces. Add to the bowl.
- When your water is boiling, add the noodles and cook according to package directions. Be careful not to cook them too long, or they’ll be grossly mushy.
- While the soba is cooking, thinly slice your green onions–green and white parts. Add to the bowl.
- Shred the carrots using a box grater and put the shredded carrots in the bowl. Add the ginger, and stir the ingredients together.
- When the pasta is cooked, drain it and put the noodles in the bowl. Add 1 T of Bragg’s (or soy sauce) and 1 T of sesame oil, and toss. Taste and add more Bragg’s as necessary. You want a flavor that is both salty and sweet.
- Add your sprouts and toss again.
- At this point you can either serve the stuff hot, let it cool to room temp., or refrigerate it to get it cold. I made it a day in advance to let the flavors meld.
- Right before you serve it, toast the sesame seeds (or nuts) in a dry pan on med-high for 2-3 minutes, stirring once, and sprinkle them on the salad.
- (When I make it again, I’ll probably add some cilantro.)
RECIPE BACKSTORY
So . . . I had my salad made the day before, and with it I served vegetarian spring rolls that only required baking. They were done a little before I was ready to serve the food, so I turned the oven to 200 degrees F and left them in to stay warm.
I also made almond-crusted tofu–which had a wonderful flavor and a pleasing crunch–from the blog A Mingling of Tastes. Great recipe–wonderful food blog.
My husband, who lived in Japan for a time, informed me that in Japan, it’s customary to eat soba noodles with an additional sauce on the side. I thought that our almond-crusted tofu and spring rolls could probably use some sauce anyway, so I served some refrigerated, store-bought peanut sauce I had–poured into a ramekin, and I made another simple sauce in another ramekin as well, Soy-Molasses Sauce (see recipe)