A recipe and a picture.

Recently at home we have been experimenting with new dishes to make our meals more interesting. Yesterday we received 10 pounds of organic soba noodles from Amazon (about fifty percent cheaper than buying it in the store) and were surprised to see that they came loose, in a thick plastic bag. It was funny especially since I joked prior to opening the package that we had received one giant 10 pound soba noodle. After divvying them up into 5 - 2 pound ziplock bags we decided to make yakisoba that evening for dinner. I could pinch myself for not taking a photo of the end result, but let's just say it was really delicious! The soba are meaty and satisfying, and the vegetables we used were perfect crunchy additions to the dish.

Here is the basic recipe:

2 carrots, julienned
1 onion, diced
1/2 bell pepper, julienned
1 cup chickpeas, rinsed and drained
1 generous handful of romain lettuce leaves cut crosswise in 1/2 inch wide slivers. (We substituted Cabbage for this. It was great!)
1/2 cup sauce (see recipe below)
8 oz. cooked soba noodles

For the sauce:
We actually used a homemade soy-ginger dressing that I had made the night before for a salad. It was the perfect blend of flavors: (And please note: this makes a lot of sauce. You could use it as a marinade for chicken; for salad dressing; for another few nights of yakisoba, etc. OR you could halve or quarter the recipe.)

3 cloves garlic, minced
2 tablespoons minced fresh ginger root
3/4 cup olive oil
1/3 cup rice vinegar
1/2 cup soy sauce (I used Tamari)
3 tablespoons honey
1/4 cup water


In a 1 pint glass jar or larger, combine the garlic, ginger, olive oil, rice vinegar, soy sauce, honey, and water. Cover the jar with a tight fitting lid, and shake well. Remove lid, and heat jar in the microwave for 1 minute just to dissolve the honey. Let cool, and shake well before serving. Store covered in the refrigerator.

(Source for dressing here.)


Cook Soba as per instructions, to al dente. Rinse with cold water and drain.
Meanwhile, saute the vegetables (sans lettuce) in a bit of neutral oil such as canola till softened. Add sauce, stir and cook a minute or two. Then add lettuce and wilt for a few minutes.
Finally, add the soba and stir till warmed. Serve hot or cold (the next day it's great too!). This serves two hungry people for dinner.

Since I haven't shown you any photos of the final product (again, my apologies), here is another picture of an entirely different meal. Definitely not as tasty, but serves as a very enjoyable lunch: hard-boiled eggs and ramen with tamari, brown sugar, garlic, ginger, sesame oil. So good.