soba noodle salad
September 23, 2008
As summer ends and the cooler weather rolls in, I continue to make salads grasping on to the last tastes of summer. This was a salad I made a few times this summer in several variations and even served it to friends. It was simple and a satisfying one plate meal and aside from marinating the chicken, a pretty quick item to throw together.
It’s probably completely taboo to the Japanese soba noodle (buckwheat noodles) tradition since I use a soy sauce vinaigrette on this, but it sure does taste good.
This salad recipe is meant to give you an idea of what you can make with a little imagination and some simple, fresh ingredients. When making for guests, it’s really easy to adapt for a vegetarian meal, just leave out the chicken and pile on more mushrooms. The great thing about this hearty salad is it can be enjoyed year round, and the greens and veggies can be adpated to whatever is available.
Soba Noodle Salad
serves 4 as a main course
Ingredients:
1 cup of sauteed wild mushrooms- oyster shitake or whatever is available
1 shallot, minced
2 tbs Italian parsley
1 cup a tomato and onion mixture- tomatoes and red onions with olive oil, salt pepper and Italian parsley
2 bundles of soba noodles, cooked and drained (these come in packaged of individual bundles)
2 cups of mixed greens or arugula
1 cup of cooked lentils de puy or black caviar lentils
1 avocado, sliced and fanned (do this before serving so it does not brown on you)
1 lb chicken- dark or white meat, marinated overnight in sweet soy ginger marinade
Sweet Soy Ginger marinade:
1/2 cup soy sauce
olive oil
sesame oil
fresh ginger
1 tbs sugar
1 tbs herbs de provence
butter
shallot vinaigrette recipe, with soy sauce (see recipe for ingredients and prep)
additional topping ideas:
lardons (cubed bacon)
fried egg
grilled zucchini or eggplant
Preparation:
Marinate the chicken overnight or at least 4 hours before serving. I use a chicken marinade from the Asian market, called “Chicken Marinade”. If you don’t have access to that, it’s essentially 1/2 cup of soy sauce, 1 tbs sugar and fresh ginger and garlic and some olive or sesame oil. Sometimes I add in some herbs de provence too.
Heat up some butter in a skillet and sauté the mushrooms in butter with the shallots and Italian parsley. Set aside.
The tomato mixture can be made ahead of time. Cut the tomatoes in half or in slices. Toss with olive oil, salt, pepper, and Italian parsley. Cover and refrigerate.
Boil some water for the noodles. Follow the package directions. You do not want mushy soba noodles. Drain and rinse with cold water and drizzle with a little oil so they don’t get stuck together.
Rinse your greens and dry them in a salad spinner or with flour sack towels. Set aside.
Boil salted water for the lentils. Cook, drain and rinse. Cooking lentils is much like cooking pasta, in the amount of time it takes and you also do not want to overcook these. This is a good time to make your vinaigrette.
Prior to cooking your chicken on either the grill or in a skillet, take it out of the fridge and allow it to temper (which means bringing the meat to room temperature before adding heat). After cooking it, allow it time to rest (about 10-15 minutes) before slicing it up.
If this seems like a lot of components for a week night salad… it kinda is, but it’s definitely worth it and I usually make extra tomatoes and extra lentils and extra vinaigrette and I can take this things to work for lunch or have them in a different salad later in the week. So in the long run, it’s really worth it, but does take some time sacrifices the first round. I don’t think I have had a salad this tasty at a restaurant, ever.
When you are ready to serve and assemble the salad, layer the greens on the bottom. Then I circle a bunch of soba noodles in the center and everything else surrounds it. The lentils are scooped on one side, the tomatoes on another, then the avocado and lastly, the sliced chicken and mushrooms. Then I spoon the vinaigrette on top. It barely can be called a salad anymore.
One time, when I was craving this salad, I went through the fridge and found some bacon lardons (shocking!) and thought adding a fried egg would be interesting. I didn’t have the mushrooms this time but the bacon and egg definitely added a richness to it that was almost over the top. I dare say it was a bit much and muffled the cleanliness of the salad the first time I had made it. Not to say I wouldn’t do a repeat performance, but it was the result of not having eaten all day and just about anything on the salad sounded like a good idea. Too much?
As summer ends and the cooler weather rolls in, I continue to make salads grasping on to the last tastes of summer. This was a salad I made a few times this summer in several variations and even served it to friends. It was simple and a satisfying one plate meal and aside from marinating the chicken, a pretty quick item to throw together.
It’s probably completely taboo to the Japanese soba noodle (buckwheat noodles) tradition since I use a soy sauce vinaigrette on this, but it sure does taste good.
This salad recipe is meant to give you an idea of what you can make with a little imagination and some simple, fresh ingredients. When making for guests, it’s really easy to adapt for a vegetarian meal, just leave out the chicken and pile on more mushrooms. The great thing about this hearty salad is it can be enjoyed year round, and the greens and veggies can be adpated to whatever is available.
Soba Noodle Salad
serves 4 as a main course
Ingredients:
1 cup of sauteed wild mushrooms- oyster shitake or whatever is available
1 shallot, minced
2 tbs Italian parsley
1 cup a tomato and onion mixture- tomatoes and red onions with olive oil, salt pepper and Italian parsley
2 bundles of soba noodles, cooked and drained (these come in packaged of individual bundles)
2 cups of mixed greens or arugula
1 cup of cooked lentils de puy or black caviar lentils
1 avocado, sliced and fanned (do this before serving so it does not brown on you)
1 lb chicken- dark or white meat, marinated overnight in sweet soy ginger marinade
Sweet Soy Ginger marinade:
1/2 cup soy sauce
olive oil
sesame oil
fresh ginger
1 tbs sugar
1 tbs herbs de provence
butter
shallot vinaigrette recipe, with soy sauce (see recipe for ingredients and prep)
additional topping ideas:
lardons (cubed bacon)
fried egg
grilled zucchini or eggplant
Preparation:
Marinate the chicken overnight or at least 4 hours before serving. I use a chicken marinade from the Asian market, called “Chicken Marinade”. If you don’t have access to that, it’s essentially 1/2 cup of soy sauce, 1 tbs sugar and fresh ginger and garlic and some olive or sesame oil. Sometimes I add in some herbs de provence too.
Heat up some butter in a skillet and sauté the mushrooms in butter with the shallots and Italian parsley. Set aside.
The tomato mixture can be made ahead of time. Cut the tomatoes in half or in slices. Toss with olive oil, salt, pepper, and Italian parsley. Cover and refrigerate.
Boil some water for the noodles. Follow the package directions. You do not want mushy soba noodles. Drain and rinse with cold water and drizzle with a little oil so they don’t get stuck together.
Rinse your greens and dry them in a salad spinner or with flour sack towels. Set aside.
Boil salted water for the lentils. Cook, drain and rinse. Cooking lentils is much like cooking pasta, in the amount of time it takes and you also do not want to overcook these. This is a good time to make your vinaigrette.
Prior to cooking your chicken on either the grill or in a skillet, take it out of the fridge and allow it to temper (which means bringing the meat to room temperature before adding heat). After cooking it, allow it time to rest (about 10-15 minutes) before slicing it up.
If this seems like a lot of components for a week night salad… it kinda is, but it’s definitely worth it and I usually make extra tomatoes and extra lentils and extra vinaigrette and I can take this things to work for lunch or have them in a different salad later in the week. So in the long run, it’s really worth it, but does take some time sacrifices the first round. I don’t think I have had a salad this tasty at a restaurant, ever.
When you are ready to serve and assemble the salad, layer the greens on the bottom. Then I circle a bunch of soba noodles in the center and everything else surrounds it. The lentils are scooped on one side, the tomatoes on another, then the avocado and lastly, the sliced chicken and mushrooms. Then I spoon the vinaigrette on top. It barely can be called a salad anymore.
One time, when I was craving this salad, I went through the fridge and found some bacon lardons (shocking!) and thought adding a fried egg would be interesting. I didn’t have the mushrooms this time but the bacon and egg definitely added a richness to it that was almost over the top. I dare say it was a bit much and muffled the cleanliness of the salad the first time I had made it. Not to say I wouldn’t do a repeat performance, but it was the result of not having eaten all day and just about anything on the salad sounded like a good idea. Too much?
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