Ginger-miso Soba Salad

by Susan Hanna

This refreshing salad from Canadian Living features a delicious miso dressing and soba noodles, which are made from buckwheat. This is a great vegetarian entrée and also goes well with grilled fish or chicken. I halved the dressing and used 6 ounces (175 g) of noodles and still had six servings. This would also be good with spaghetti or linguine noodles. Because miso is quite salty, I did not add the ½ tsp of salt to the dressing. 

Serves 6.

Avoiding Additives and Preservatives

Use fresh lemon juice, real maple syrup and miso paste with no colour or preservatives added. For more recipes using all-natural ingredients, visit Eye For A Recipe.

Ingredients:

Miso Dressing

• ½ cup (125 ml) vegetable oil
• ¼ cup (60 ml) lemon juice
• 3 tablespoons (45 ml) white or yellow miso paste
• 2 tablespoons (30 ml) maple syrup
• 2 tablespoons (30 ml) grated fresh ginger
• 1 clove garlic, minced
• ½ teaspoon (2.5 ml) salt (optional)
• ¼ teaspoon (1 ml) cayenne pepper

Salad

•  8 oz (225 g) soba noodles
• 1 cup (250 ml) sugar snap peas, trimmed
• 1 cup (250 ml) bite-size broccoli florets
• 1 sweet red pepper, thinly sliced
• Quarter red onion, thinly sliced
• Quarter English cucumber, halved lengthwise and sliced crosswise
• ½ cup (125 ml) chopped fresh cilantro (with stems)
• ¼ cup (60 ml) natural (skin-on) almonds, toasted and chopped

Preparation:

1.  Miso Dressing: In large bowl, whisk together oil, lemon juice, miso paste, maple syrup, ginger, garlic, salt (if using) and cayenne pepper. Set aside.
2.  Salad: In saucepan of boiling water, cook noodles according to package instructions. Drain and rinse under cold water; drain well. Set aside.
3.  Meanwhile, in separate saucepan of boiling salted water, cook snap peas and broccoli until tender-crisp, about 2 minutes. Drain and transfer to bowl of ice water to chill; drain well.
4.  Thinly slice snap peas; place in large bowl. Add broccoli, red pepper, onion and cucumber; toss with half of the dressing. Add noodles and cilantro; gently toss with remaining dressing. Sprinkle with almonds.

 From Canadian Living