Most of Alison’s recipes, while relatively easy to make, can’t qualify as a “quick weeknight dinners.” Right now, I have the time in my life to accommodate the ingredient shopping and recipe planning that her meals require. But a few months from now, I’ll be looking for more quick-fix options that take 30 minutes or less and can be made with what I have on hand. In other words, I’ll be looking for recipes like this cold soba dish.
The thrust of this recipe is just cooked noodles tossed in sauce, topped with toasted sesame seeds and veggies. It can be modified with different vegetable toppings and it makes great leftovers. I thoroughly enjoyed the fresh and slightly spicy combo of Persian cucumbers with watercress, and I’d want to stick to vegetables that contribute similar strengths to the dish.
The recipe calls for soba noodles which, Alison explains, are the best kind of noodle eaten cold. I’ve had cold soba noodles at a Japanese restaurant before and agree that they are the right texture and chewiness for cold noodle eating. However, soba noodles are made of buckwheat, which means I can’t eat them. Instead, I opted for TJ’s Brown Rice Spaghetti noodles, and had good success. A tad on the overly chewy side, but just barely so.
Once I drained and cooled the noodles, I tossed them in a sauce made of soy sauce, sesame oil, rice vinegar, yuzu kosho paste, and finely chopped watercress and scallions. Then the noodles were ready for plating. The toasted sesame seeds sprinkled on top really brought the dish home, unifying the noodles and veggies and adding a nutty dimension to the flavors.
If you or someone in your family is adamant about having protein with dinner, I can recommend a poached chicken breast, thinly sliced to pair with the noodles and sauce. Jordan really appreciated the combination. This is one I’ll be making regularly when my life schedule fills up, and I’m hoping to find more like it.
102 recipes cooked, 123 to go.
