Soba Noodle Salad

About six months ago I saw a recipe in a magazine for some dish that required Soba noodles*. Intrigued, I went to several stores in search of this buckwheat angel hair. When I finally acquired the noodles, I misplaced the recipe and so the noodles sat in the pasta section of my pantry waiting to be useful.

This afternoon, my sister was coming over for a trip to IKEA which is conveniently located in the heart of downtown Burbank. I decided that it was a rare chance for me to make an Asian dish and to use my fun chopsticks. I knew I wanted something cold with the heat soaring into the triple digits. I found a recipe that used my Soba noodles in Martha Stewart's Whole Living recipe search. I felt it was too green and added a few vegetables to brighten it up.

The flavors were light and fresh. Katie loved it and I found it to be a little too light. I probably should've reserved more of the dressing. Next time I'll know.

Soba Noodle Salad
Ingredients:
1 two-inch piece fresh ginger, peeled, sliced into thin strips
1 serrano pepper, seeded and sliced into very thin strips
1/4 sugar
3 T fresh squeezed lime juice (about 3 limes)
2 T soy sauce
1 package firm or extra-firm tofu cut into bite-sized cubes, pat dry (if you don't like tofu you could substitute poached chicken)
1 package soba noodles (8-12oz) *whole wheat pasta would be similar, and ever since I purchased these, I have seen them at every store
4 oz snow peas, thinly sliced
1 t vegetable oil
1 cucumber, halved and cut into thin strips
1/4 bunch chives cut into 1 inch pieces
10-12 cherry tomatoes, halved
1 avocado, sliced
Sesame seeds, for serving

Directions:
1. Cook noodles according to package directions, drain, and rinse with cool water. Place in a large bowl and set aside.
2. Meanwhile, in a small saucepan, bring ginger, Serrano pepper, sugar and 1/3 c of water to a bowl. Reduce heat and simmer about 5 minutes or until ginger and pepper are soft. Remove from heat. With a slotted spoon, scoop pepper and ginger into a bowl for later. Reserve syrup.
3. In a shallow bowl (but large enough for all the tofu), whisk together soy sauce, 2 t reserved syrup, and lime juice. Add tofu, toss to coat, and set aside.
4. Add snow peas, oil and 1 T dressing to noodles, toss. Add cucumbers, tomatoes, tofu and chives to serving bowl.
5. Divide noodle salad among plates. Top with sliced avocado and sesame seeds.