If this past weekend – featuring sunshine, bursting farmers’ markets and buckets of rose on the terrace – is any indication, we’re officially out of root vegetable season and into salad season. It’s music to my ears and I spent Saturday late afternoon and evening perched on my terrace with a wine glass in hand dreaming of all the seasonal dishes I can’t wait to prepare this summer. And while I’m not one to rely on a recipe to put together a salad, this soba noodle dish from Saveur is such a keeper that I couldn’t not share it with you.
As always with something as simple as a salad, you need to be using the best ingredients for it to really sing – but sing it will. The secret ingredient here is the miso paste (which nowadays you can get in the refrigerated area of most well-stocked grocery stores) which brings a unique savory dimension to an already fantastic compilation. The resulting salad is bright, zippy and fresh, with just the right amount of earthiness from the soba noodles. It’s also gorgeous on a plate. Just the thing to cool off with on a warm late spring night.
It is going to be a bit of an unusual summer for me, which I wanted to let you in on because it’s going to directly affect what’s happening on this blog for a few months. On June 8 I’m going to be having a fairly involved surgery to correct misalignment of my jaw, and the recovery period is a real doozy. While gone are the days of wiring jaws shut, I’m still going to have my teeth heavily banded together, be mostly numb from the mid-cheek down, and unable to open my mouth at all. How will I eat, you ask? I’ll be subsisting on a liquid diet for at least six weeks, which will be, at least in the beginning, administered via syringe.
It’s all a little scary and daunting, and I’ve become acutely aware that I have 5 weeks to cook my little heart out until it’s Ensure and chicken broth for a pretty long while. So it’s put a sense of urgency into my cooking (and eating), both in terms of what I’m going to miss having access to and collecting enough of a back-pocket stash of recipes to be able to post (longingly) on this blog while I’m incapacitated. I’m hoping to plan this well enough that you won’t even notice that I’m broadcasting propped between pillows and drooling all over myself, and that this blog remains an outlet of joy and distraction for me in a tough situation. Let’s hope so – and until then, join me in an indulgent late spring eating extravaganza!
Note: The original recipe calls for shiso leaves (found at Japanese markets) or basil, but I've discovered shiso is one of only two foods that I don't like - something about the texture - so I say go basil!
Ingredients
- 2 1⁄2 oz. small radicchio leaves
- 2 1⁄2 oz. small red leaf lettuce leaves
- 24 small basil leaves
- 16 small grape tomatoes
- 4 small dill fronds
- 2 small carrots, thinly sliced crosswise
- 1 Persian cucumber, thinly sliced crosswise
- 1 red finger chile
- 1⁄3 cup extra-virgin olive oil
- 3 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
- 1 1⁄2 tablespoons rice vinegar
- 1 1⁄2 tablespoons soy sauce
- 1 tablespoon white miso paste
- 2 teaspoons toasted sesame oil
- 1⁄2 teaspoons sugar
- 1 (2-inch) piece ginger, peeled
- Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
- 1 tablespoon toasted sesame seeds
- 8 oz. fresh or dried soba noodles (I buy them fresh and frozen from the Japanese market)
Instructions
- In a large bowl, combine both lettuces with the basil, tomatoes, dill, carrots, and cucumber. Using a knife, begin thinly slicing the chile from the tip. When you reach the seeds, stop slicing and discard or save the remaining chile for another use. Add the sliced chile to the lettuces in the bowl and toss to combine.
- In a small bowl, whisk the olive oil with the lemon juice, rice vinegar, soy sauce, miso paste, sesame oil, and sugar. Using a Microplane set over a fine sieve set in a bowl, grate the ginger into the sieve, then press on the solids to drain as much juice as possible into the bowl. Pour 1 teaspoon of the ginger juice into the bowl with the dressing and discard the rest or save for another use. Season the dressing with salt and pepper and whisk until emulsified. Divide the dressing among 4 small ramekins and sprinkle each with some of the sesame seeds.
- In a large pot of boiling water, cook the soba noodles until al dente, about 3 minutes. Drain the noodles into a colander and rinse under cold running water until the water runs clear. Drain the noodles again and divide among 4 serving plates. Divide the lettuces and vegetables over the noodles, sprinkle with the remaining sesame seeds, and serve immediately with the dressing on the side.
Notes
From Saveur February 2016
