Sesame Soba Noodle Salad with Edamame
Edamame are young green soy beans that are packed with fibers and plant proteins. Soba noodles are made from buckwheat, which is a whole grain that is oddly not related to wheat. In this easy one-pot meal, edamame and soba noodles are combined with carrots, red peppers, and scallions with a delicious honey-sesame dressing. Make it ahead of time and enjoy it chilled for lunch or dinner when you don’t want to heat up the kitchen.
Ingredients
1/2 pound soba (buckwheat) noodles or whole wheat spaghetti
1 (12 oz) bag frozen shelled edamame, thawed
1 tsp. crushed garlic
1 tsp. crushed ginger
4 Tbsp. reduced sodium soy sauce
2 Tbsp. rice vinegar
2 Tbsp. sesame oil
2 Tbsp. honey
2 cups matchstick carrots
1 large red bell pepper, thinly sliced
1/4 cup chopped scallions
Directions
Bring a large pot of water to boil over high heat. Add about 1 tsp salt (optional). Reduce to medium-high heat, add pasta, and boil for 5 minutes. Add shelled edamame and boil for another 4-5 minutes until pasta is al dente. Drain in a colander and return the pot to medium heat. Add ginger, garlic, soy sauce, rice vinegar, sesame oil, and honey to the pot and cook for about 30 seconds; turn the heat off. Return the pasta and edamame to the pot. Add the carrots, red peppers, and scallions; toss well to combine. Chill in the refrigerator for at least 8 hours. (Serves 6)
You can use fresh garlic and ginger. For this recipe, I cheated and used these frozen cubes of crushed garlic and ginger from Dorot. You can find them in the freezer section of the regular grocery store, Trader Joe’s, or Whole Foods. When you need a little bit of garlic or ginger, just pop a frozen square into your pot and return the remaining portion to the freezer.
