Soba-Vegetable Salad

Cold soba noodle salads make great suppers for warm summer (or pre-summer) days. This one is no exception. Filled with great Asian flavors and fresh crunchy vegetables, it makes a satisfying and refreshing light meal.

Feel free to add in any other crunchy vegetables you might have on hand - sugar snap peas would be great in this salad, as would celery and cucumber. Also, I'll give a warning that the raw shallot was a little too intense for our taste, so if you're not a fan of raw onion you might substitute scallions or chives, or leave out the allium family altogether.

Soba-Vegetable Salad
adapted from Ellie Krieger's The Food You Crave
serves 2

INGREDIENTS:

2 oz. soba noodles
1/2 small shallot, very thinly sliced
1 medium carrot, peeled and shredded
1 small red bell pepper, seeded and cut into strips
2 or 3 leaves of fresh basil, torn
4 or 5 leaves of fresh mint, torn
1 tablespoon rice vinegar
pinch of sugar
1 teaspoon canola oil
a few drops toasted sesame oil
pinch red pepper flakes
1/4 teaspoon finely grated lime zest
juice of 1/2 line
salt to taste
a couple of handfuls chopped romaine lettuce

DIRECTIONS:

1. Bring a medium pot of water to a boil. Cook soba noodles according to package directions. Drain and rinse with cold water to cool.

2. In a medium to large bowl, combine noodles with shallot, carrot, bell pepper, basil and mint.

3. In a small bowl, whisk together the rice vinegar, sugar, canola oil, sesame oil, red pepper flakes, lime zest and juice, and salt. Add to the noodle salad and toss lightly to coat. Serve over bed of romaine leaves.

Save this one for a day when all you want is something healthy and full of flavor. (Isn't that every day?) Enjoy!