Wednesday, May 23, 2012

What I'm Cooking

 Chilled Noodle and Veggie Salad


The hubs and I have taken to a health kick lately, which is one of the reasons it has been so quiet here at *Girl From Scratch Headquarters. Even though we are enjoying our healthier lifestyle- beet juice, brown rice and lentils just don't seem all that interesting to blog about.

I'm discovering that tasty healthful food is anything but boring and difficult to prepare, it's actually crave-able, sumptuous and down-right delicious! All it takes is the perfect balance of flavors and secret little tips.

Just for kicks, we've been doing a mostly vegan diet. *Mr. From Scratch is doing much better then me in the willpower department-I cheated when my boss at the restaurant "made" me try a gourmet crab-cake (Who can say no to a jumbo lump crab-cake? Not this girl). But mostly we've been cooking at home, or frequenting our favorite falafel joint, and, on occasion, stumbling upon new vegan eateries in our city. 

I've been really impressed by some of the new flavor combinations that we've had, and this is one of them. There is no formal recipe today, just a general format that you can tweak to your liking. Chilled Noodle and Veggie Salad is a create-your-own dish. You pick the ingredients. The basics to this cold noodle dish are; 1) noodle 2) sauce 3) veggies, beans, and/or crunch factor like nuts

Enjoy!


Chilled Noodle and Veggie Salad
Step One: Choose your noodle. You can pick whatever you prefer. I chose buckwheat soba noodles found in the international/asian aisle at your grocery. Boil noodles as directed, then rinse with cold water and drain.
Step Two: Make your sauce. While your pasta is boiling, whip up a simple sauce for your noodles. If you want- you can use an Asian or Thai-inspired bottled salad dressing and brighten it up with a squeeze of lemon. I used sesame oil and soy sauce with some grated ginger and a dash of sugar.
Step Three: Add your veggies. Toss it all together. This is my favorite step because it requires NO work! I bought a bag of shredded cabbage and carrots. Then I perused the salad bar at the grocery and picked up some other fun items like edamame beans. Shopping the salad bar is a great way to get a variety of nutritious stuff for your salad without buying a ton of food that may go to waste. (Who needs a whole can of bamboo shoots? Just a couple off the salad bar will do!) Sidenote: Cabbage and noodles are AWESOME together. The cabbage bulks up the dish without making it heavy and adds a major crunch factor. It's a super sturdy veggie that can hold up to a sauce without getting soggy.
Let it all chill in the fridge for a little bit and enjoy! A vegan/vegetarian meal that rocks!

I hope you try this delicious and easy recipe. Let me know what ingredients you add to make it your own signature dish! (And we'll see how long this health-kick lasts...we may be back to nachos and beer in a few months.)

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