Soba Salad With Miso Dressing

Kumquat the Cat's friend's Note:

Superfast veggie dinner or side dish. Courtesy of Mark Bittman, the Minimalist, from the October 1 2009 NY Times. He's not sure whether to call this a warm salad or a room-temperature noodle dish. I love edamame beans, and buying them frozen is fine for this dish. Pick up a bag of pre-washed spinach for this too. Tossing the spinach with the warm noodles and veggies should wilt the spinach, or stir fry them together in a little water to wilt a bit more. Soba noodles are a staple of Japan. They have a slightly firm texture and nutty flavor.

• Total Time: 20 mins
• Prep Time: 15 mins
• Cook Time: 5 mins

Ingredients:

Servings: 4

• 3 -4 ounces soba noodles
• 1 carrot, peeled and finely chopped
• 2 cups edamame (frozen are fine)
• 3 -4 tablespoons soy sauce
• 1 lime, juice of
• 2 tablespoons miso (white or light)
• 1 tablespoon mirin or 1 teaspoon sugar, to taste
• 1 (10 ounce) package spinach, fresh washed and trimmed
• 1/4 cup scallion, chopped
• salt and pepper, to taste
• 1 tablespoon ginger, freshly grated

Directions:

1. Bring a large pot of water to a boil and salt it. Drop in the noodles and carrot and cook until tender, 2 to 4 minutes; add the edamame for about 30 seconds to 1 minute just to warm, then drain everything in a colander. Set aside.
2. In a large salad bowl, whisk together the soy sauce, lime juice, miso and mirin or sugar. Add spinach, noodles, carrot, edamame, scallion and toss; then taste and season with salt and pepper as needed. Garnish with grated ginger at the table.

Reviews

[Strawberry_sunshine]

Excellent. I mostly wanted to try this recipe for the dressing and it was delicious. I can only imagine how much better it'll be with edamame the next time I make it. I used mixed greens instead of spinach and topped with sesame seeds. Served as a main dish for myself and with salmon on the side for BF. Yummy recipe!

[Chef #494084]

This is great! If anything, it is a bit on the salty side so don't add any extra salt! I might add some extra noodles next time (and I used a bag of 6oz baby spinach) but otherwise wouldn't change a thing. Thanks Kumquat the Cat's friend.......

[magpie diner]

Very nice - I made as written except that I left out the spinach as we already had spinach in something else on the table, and I added the ginger to the sauce instead of serving on top. It's a tasty dish...the only thing I found is that the noodles started to stick together a bit, so I'd be tempted to use a little oil next time. I love soba noodles, I'm sure I'll be making this again! Thanks for a tasty and nutritious meal! ZWT 6