Peanut-Veggie Soba Noodles

As I'm sure you've all gathered, Mexican is by far our favorite cuisine. Behind that would be various forms of Asian food, particular Thai and Japanese. I'm not very sure as to the "authenticity" of our Asian food - but it's tasty and we like it, so that is really all that matters. As of late, Leng's Fried Rice has made its way nicely into our regular recipe routine - it's so tasty (and versatile, we just use what veggies we have on hand)!

This is, obviously, not Leng's Fried Rice, but it was a quick and easy creation that was filling and takes advantage of all the local yummies we have at our disposal right now. And, because I'm a bit of a spice freak, I douse my serving in sriracha before I eat it, Brett's not a huge fan of the sriracha, it's a bit spicy for his taste, so the hot chile sauce I use in this recipe is a milder variety that I supplement with sriracha to please my "fire tooth". Some have a sweet tooth, I have a spice tooth. And the great thing about Asian food is the sweet and spicy combinations often found, so it's the best of both worlds, and both Brett and I can be satisfied!

Just a reminder of the produce legend:
* = farmer's market
** = CSA
*** = Container or Community Garden

Without further fanfare, here she be!















Peanut-Veggie Soba Noodles

Sauce:
1/4 cup peanut butter
1/4 cup water
juice of one lime
2 tbsp brown rice vinegar
2 tbsp sesame oil
2 tbsp shoyu
2-4 chiles Japones, roughly chopped (or crushed red pepper to taste)
2-3 tbsp hot chile sauce
2 tbsp sugar
1" fresh ginger, minced
2 cloves of garlic, minced *
a pinch of salt

Veggies and Such:
1/2 package of soba noodles

shredded cabbage **
chopped rainbow chard *
carrots, sliced into thin matchsticks
yellow squash, sliced into thin matchsticks ***
zucchini, sliced into thin matchsticks ***
1/2 an onion, sliced thin *
1/2 a red bell pepper, sliced thin *

Cook pasta according to package directions. Drain once cooked.

Heat a few tablespoons of water in a small sauce pan. Add the chiles, ginger, and garlic and cook for about 5-8 minutes. Add the remaining sauce ingredients and combine well.

Meanwhile, heat a tablespoon or two or sesame oil over medium or medium-low heat. Add all the veggies and stir-fry until they begin to char.

Toss pasta with veggies and sauce and enjoy warm.

This was really good, we both really like soba noodles, and when we discovered that buckwheat attracts predatory insects, we were pretty excited as soba noodles are made from buckwheat.

'Til next time.

Sesame Ginger Soba Noodles and Thanksgiving in May?

For dinner a few nights ago, I made a Sesame Ginger sauce, since I haven't been able to eat completely solid foods, we served it over soba noodles, instead of rice and veggies which we usually prefer. I also added some adzuki beans to it. I wouldn't normally pair beans and noodles, as the beans sink to the bottom, but I've been needing protein.

The sauce turned out really well, Brett raved about it, probably because it was sweet. :-)

Sesame Ginger Soba Noodles (with optional adzuki beans)

Sesame Ginger Sauce:

1 large clove garlic, minced

2 tbsp ginger, minced

4 Chiles Japones, minced

1/3 cup soy sauce

3 tablespoons mirin

3 tablespoons sugar

3 tbsp agave

2 tablespoons sesame oil

1 tablespoon tahini

2 tbsp seasoned brown rice vinegar

2-4 tbsp hot water

cayenne (optional)

1/2 package of soba noodles (buckwheat noodles)

1 cup adzuki beans, cooked (optional)

sesame seeds (optional)

Heat a few tablespoons of water in a small sauce pan. Add the garlic, ginger and Chiles Japones and cook for about 10 minutes. Add all the other ingredients (except the cayenne), and simmer on low while the noodles are cooking.

Cook noodles according to package directions.

When noodles are finished, drain and rinse. Top with aduzki beans, sauce, sesame seeds and cayenne.

(If you want a thicker sauce, you can dissolve 1 tsp of arrowroot in a couple of tbsp of water, mix it in the sauce, bring it to a boil and remove it from the heat as soon as it is at the desired thickness.)

So, I have been running out of ideas for soft-ish things to eat, and to be completely honest, I am sick of soba noodles with sauce, mashed beans, and especially applesauce. Which is a shame, because I used to love applesauce, I've just been living off of it for a week.

Brett came up with the idea of cooking up a bunch of 'Thanksgiving-ish' sides, since they are all soft and savory, something I haven't had much of this week. So he went to the store and even cooked half of the dinner.

Brett steamed some carrots, cooked up a few cranberry beans, and made his world famous (ok, well I think they should be considered world famous) Garlicky Mashed Potatoes, when he makes them, they always turn out better than when I do it. Part of his bag of tricks includes using Silk Soy Creamer instead of regular soy, rice or hemp milk and using red potatoes instead of russet. It gives the potatoes a richer flavor.

Anyways, I made Veganomicon's Mushroom Gravy (so good!), steamed some spinach and prepared some vegan stuffing (from an organic mix bought from the store made with veggie broth). It was really good and hit the spot.

I think my stomach has shrunk, well, and my eyes were far bigger than my belly, I couldn't eat nearly all of this. I was stoked that there were leftovers so I can enjoy this again at lunch today.

I'm making Lentil and Potato soft tacos tonight! I think I can do the tortillas, just maybe not fried yet, the healing process is moving along quite quickly and I am starting to feel brave enough to 'test the waters'.

'Til next time!