Soba Noodles

Photo courtesy of Jasja-dekker on Flickr

I’ve recently been eating a lot of soba noodles at home.  They are a pretty versatile ingredient and fill a pasta-like carb craving, but are a whole lot healthier.

I had worked a long day on Monday and wanted to make something quick and easy for dinner, but not short on intense flavor.  I decided on a soba noodle salad with peanut dressing topped with fresh herbs and stir-fried shrimp with garlic and ginger.

I felt the urge to wing this one and started by making a dressing for my soba salad.  I combined ¼ cup of smooth peanut butter with about 2 tablespoons each of soy and rice wine vinegar.  I added a few tablespoons of water and a drop of sesame oil to loosen up the mixture and whisked it all together with a tablespoon of chili garlic sauce and a squeeze of lime.  While the flavors mingled, I boiled my noodles, drained them and let them cool.

Meanwhile, I sliced and sautéed ginger and garlic in a hot wok and added the shrimp and cooked until they began to brown.  Probably about a minute or two.  I added some soy and some more hot sauce mixed it together and let it sit together off the heat while I assembled my salad.

In a large bowl, I tossed the cold soba noodles with the peanut dressing and topped it with some sesame seeds, chopped cilantro, mint and scallions and another squeeze of lime.

I plated the dishes together, and the contrasting temperature from the hot shrimp and cool salad played off each other well.  The fresh herbs gave the salad a nice refreshing crunch and mellowed out the spiciness of the shrimp.   I sat back pleased with myself.  All in all the meal took about thirty minutes from start to finish and was completely satisfying.  The best part, it was completely my own.