Cold Soba Noodle Salad with Sesame-Soy Vinaigrette

       I'm not sure if you guys are aware of this, but my favourite type of food is Asian food. Japanese, Chinese, Vietnamese, you name it, it's all tasty. As the weather has been getting warmer, I've been craving many of my favourite summer dishes, cold soba noodle salad being one of them. So today I bring you my favourite "pasta salad" with an Asian twist. 

       I've been making this recipe for ages, and in general it's a real crowd pleaser. It was only recently though that I decided that it was about time I measure out exactly what I'm putting in it so that I can share this lovely salad with all of you!

Time: 20 minutes
Serves: 3-6

Ingredients:

• 9oz/250g buckwheat soba noodles
• 1-2 Tbsp peanut oil 
• 2 Tbsp soy sauce
• 1 Tbsp sesame oil
• 2 Tbsp rice wine vinegar 
• 1/8 tsp or a pinch of chili flakes
• 3 green onions, chopped
• 1 large carrot, fine julienne or shredded (or spiralized!)
• 1/4 cup loosely packed fresh cilantro leaves, chopped (optional)
• 3 Tbsp sesame seeds, white and/or black

Preparation: 

1. In a large pot of salted, boiling water, cook soba noodles until al dente, about 5-8 minutes.
2. Meanwhile, start mixing up the dressing: in small measuring cup or bowl, mix together soy sauce, sesame oil, rice wine vinegar and chili flakes. Chop onions and shred, grate or fine julienne carrot. 
3. When pasta is ready, drain and rinse with cold water, then put in large serving bowl and gently mix with peanut oil to stop them from sticking.
4. Poor vinaigrette over noodles along with onions, carrots, cilantro, and 2 Tbsp of the sesame seeds. Toss and mix.
5. Let cool for at least one (1) hour in the fridge before serving. Sprinkle with the remaining 1 Tbsp sesame seeds before serving.

Japanese Sprouted Salad

       I've always enjoyed that mysterious orange dressing that you get at Japanese restaurants. I looked around trying to find some similar recipes, and out of the few I rounded up, I created this yummy salad. Quite a bit more complex than the average sushi restaurant green salad.  This salad uses some of my favourite vegetables and incorporates some lovely sprouts! I've listed below what vegetables I've used to make this particular bowl, but feel free to use whichever vegetables you want. As for the main green, a crunchy lettuce, such as iceberg, as bland as it may be, goes perfectly with this zesty sauce.

Dressing

Makes about 1 1/2 cups of dressing, slightly more than you will need for one head of iceberg

Ingredients

• 1 5-6" piece of ginger root, peeled 
• 1/2 cup rice wine vinegar
• 1 Tbsp white onion
• 1 small clove of garlic or 1/8 tsp garlic powder
• 1-3 Tbsp water
• 1/2 cup olive or vegetable oil
• 1/2 Tbsp sesame oil
• 2 Tbsp soy sauce
• 2 Tbsp tomato paste 
• 1 Tbsp honey

Preparation

1. Roughly chop the ginger root.
2. Add all ingredients into a blender or food processor, start with only 1 Tbsp of water, and add more to thin out the dressing if desired. 
3. Blend until smooth.
4. If you add too much water and want to make it a bit thicker, add some more ginger and tomato paste.
5. Taste, add a bit of salt or more soy sauce if needed.
6. Transfer dressing to a mason jar, and refrigerate for at least 10 minutes before serving.

Salad

Ingredients

• 1 head of iceberg lettuce, cut or ripped to size
• Handful of washed fresh cilantro leaves
• 1 cup fresh sprouts
• 5 spears of asparagus, shaved or cut thinly
• 1/4 cucumber, julienned
• 1/2 red pepper, sliced thinly 
• 1 medium carrot, shaved or julienned
• 2-3 green onions, greens chopped
• 
  
• 1 avocado, sliced or cubed
• toasted sesame seeds

Preparation

The first two ingredients in this salad are the most important. The crunch of the iceberg and the fresh citrus notes of the cilantro are a must. As for the rest of the ingredients, feel free to take some creative liberty when dressing your salad. 
Combine first set of ingredients in a bowl and mix. 
Add the avocado before dressing/serving and sprinkle the sesame seeds on top.

This salad is perfect along side a stir fry, some home-made sushi or spring rolls. Yum!

Back to the Basics

There are a few recipes that come in handy a lot in our household, the first being risotto and the second being  good old Caesar salad, vegan style.

There are many vegan caesar dressing recipes that miss the mark out there. They can easily be too liquidy, or sadly just not garlicy enough. This recipe however, is neither. The perfect amount of garlic and salt, this dressing only gets better the longer it waits for you in the fridge.

Vegan Caesar Salad

Ingredients 

In a mason jar combine:

3 Tbsp nutritional yeast

2 Tbsp soy milk

3-4 Tbsp vegan mayonnaise preferably, but vegan sour cream or cream cheese work too)

2 Tbsp lemon juice

1 Tbsp olive oil

1 Tbsp dijon mustard

2 cloves minced garlic 

1/4 tsp salt and fresh ground pepper

Preparation

Shake and or stir to combine. 

Best served on kale with fresh croutons and thinly sliced fried tofu chips*.

To make tofu chips: Thinly slice tofu and fry at medium temp. Drizzle with soy sauce and cover with yeast, and any other desired spices such as pepper, Provençal, or Italian spices.
To make fresh croutons: cube bread, drissle bread with olive oil and sprinkle with spices, salt and pepper. Toast on a low temperature until dried and crouton-ey. 

Risotto Base

Risotto is one of those versatile dishes that can be paired with a variety of vegetables. In the photo above, we had prepared  an acorn squash and kale risotto.  Risotto also pairs well with roasted vegetables, like cauliflower and garlic, pepper and tomatoes or zucchini. Vegetables can be cooked prior cooking the rice or with the rice. Mushroom Risotto is our all time favourite, and one of the most flavourful and easiest risotto dishes (photo below) If you're making mushroom risotto, cut up dried mushrooms and reconstituting them in the broth and pair with fresh fried mushrooms, which can be cooked along side the rice. Its important when preparing the risotto to have a ratio of one part 'goodies' to one part rice, so don't be shy with those mushrooms!

Serves: 2 as a main, 4 as a side

Ingredients

3 cloves garlic, minced 

olive oil to coat

1 1/4 cups vegetable broth

1 3/4 cups hot water, can be added to broth to dilute it

1 onion chopped

1 cup arborio rice

1/4 cup white wine (or water to make harvest rice, which is alcohol free)

About 2 cups vegetables of choice, ie. mixed mushrooms, roasted cauliflower, etc.

Preparation 

In a small sauce pan, heat broth and water to a boil, reduce heat and keep warm.

In a large frying pan, heat oil over medium heat. 
Sauté onion until transparent (~3 min) (if using mushrooms, sauté now for an additional 5 minutes).
Add rice, stirring to coat grains in oil, let toast for around 3 minutes, until slightly transparent, then add wine, stirring until almost no liquid remains.

Add broth to rice, one ladle, or 1/2 cup at a time, while mixing often. When almost no liquid remains, add more broth, and repeat until there is no more broth and the rice is cooked. 
While adding liquid, you may spice your risotto to your liking, we enjoy thyme (at least 2 tsp dry), however, do not add salt and pepper till the near end as to not over salt the dish. 
Cooking the rice should take 18-20 minutes, and should produce creamy but not mushy rice, that still has a bit of a crunch in the middle.

If you desire a creamier product, you may wish to add some soy milk instead of the last 1/2 cup liquid, and vegan cheese, such as Daiya, at the end.

If the risotto sits for two long it may become stiff and less creamy, to avoid this add 1-2 tsp lemon juice at the end of the cooking process.