I love the abundance of summer. So many veggies, so little time. Or so little space in my belly!
Sometimes, there’s so much of one vegetable that I need multiple ways to use it so I don’t get bored. Zucchini is like that. So is cucumber. I like them both, but they are also vegetables that are so plentiful that it’s easy to OD on these summer staples.
Thankfully, I found a new way to combine them in a delicious and simple meal that makes them both taste fresh.
This is a bit of a riff on a recipe I found way back on 101 Cookbooks by Heidi Swanson. The recipe is “Otsu“, but it features tofu and I’m not much of a tofu fan. I loved the soba noodles and the dressing, though so I swiped those and created my own Veggie Otsu instead.
You can actually play around with the ingredients a bit. These are the ones I like the best because they all retain a good bit of crunch in this slippery noodle recipe.
I also make the dressing in advance and make enough for 2 meals. My dressing is slightly different from Heidi’s. No offense to her brilliance, but as the mamas of 2 kids, I don’t usually have time to zest and squeeze a lemon. Store bought lemon juice does just fine.
Summer Soba Otsu with Veggies
serves 1
Ingredients~
2oz soba noodles, cooked as instructed
3 Cups of veggies in total: green beans (inch long pieces), cabbage sliced thinly, zucchini (half moons, sliced thinly), cucumber (half moons, sliced thinly)
1 tbs coconut oil
Dash of soy sauce/Tamari
1 tsp sesame seeds
for sauce:
2Tbs olive oil
2 Tbs toasted sesame oil
1 Tbs honey
1/4 cup brown rice vinegar
1/4 cup soy sauce/tamari
1 Tbs lemon juice
dash cayenne pepper
1 chunk of ginger (about an inch piece), minced
Directions:
Combine all of the ingredients of the sauce in a measuring cup. Mix thoroughly. Set aside. If making a few days in advance, this sauce will keep for about a week, but the sooner you use it the better.
Cook soba noodles according to instructions. When done, rinse to cool and set aside.
Heat coconut oil in a wok or large pan. Add in all of the veggies, EXCEPT the cucumbers. Cook with a dash of soy sauce. Add in the sesame seeds and cook until the zucchini are soft, but the veggies still have a small bit of crunch.
Combine the veggies and soba noodles in a bowl. Add in the cucumbers and some of your sauce. Mix together and happily slurp, slurp, slurp up your meal!
