Cold soba noodles are easy to prepare and cook faster than your regular pasta/noodle. This is a very simple and delicious recipe for the summer…just toss soba noodles with a spicy sauce made with peanut butter and lots of fresh vegetables.

Have you ever heard of soba noodles? Soba noodles were originated in Japan and it is made from buckwheat. They are thinner than the usual noodles and sold in the market like your dry pasta. In Japan soba noodles are served cold during summer and hot in winter, and traditionally dipped in a sauce (cold) or hot broth.

My mom used to cook soba instead of the regular pasta; one, because is faster to cook and second, because it is healthier as compared to the wheat pasta. So now I do the same…often I cook soba noodles and serve with meat sauce.

During summer I like to make it cold, almost like salad…I cut all kind of raw vegetables into Julienne or chiffonade add a protein like shrimp or chicken and top with a creamy peanut sauce which is a mix of lightly sweet, salty, spicy and citrusy. This peanut sauce really challenge all your palate senses…I know, sounds weird until you try it…and then you will be totally in love with the sauce.

Ingredients:

• 3 tablespoons peanut butter
• 3 tablespoons water
• 1 ½ teaspoons sugar
• 3 tablespoons Ponzu sauce
• 1 teaspoon soy sauce
• 1 teaspoon sesame oil
• 1 to 2 teaspoons yuzu hot sauce, depending on how spicy you want
• Soba noodle
• Fresh basil leaves, cut into thins strips
• Cucumber, cut into thinly Julienne
• Carrot, cut into thinly Julienne
• Shredded chicken

Method:

Cook the soba noddle according to the instructions of the package.  Rinse well under the cold water and make sure that the noddle is well drained. Set aside or in the refrigerator while you are preparing the dressing.

In a small bowl, add the peanut butter and water, whisk until smooth, add all the remaining ingredients.  Whisk until all the ingredients are incorporated into the dressing.

When ready to serve, add in a bowl the soba noodle, vegetables, chicken and the peanut sauce. Toss all together making sure the noddle is coated with the sauce.

Serve cold.

If you enjoy this Asian inspired noodles, you might want to take a look at Squash Noddles with Peanut Sauce recipe.

Did you know that buckwheat does not contain gluten? Buckwheat is a very nice substitute for wheat for the ones that have an issue with gluten. Buckwheat is a fruit seed and contain more mineral and antioxidants than other grains.

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This is a delicious and healthy salad with lentils, cucumber and roasted tomatoes.  It can be served as a side dish or even as a main dish.

This is a simple and tasty lentil salad…it is sure packed with flavors and texture. The flavors are intense…sweet roasted tomatoes to the spicy cumin and the texture are from soft and creamy to crunchy. It can be served as a side dish or as a main meal as I have done many times.

The leftover can be stored in the refrigerator for next day lunch…

Ingredients:

• 1 ½ cup dry lentils
• 1 bay leaf (dry)
• Salt to taste
• 16oz sugar/grape tomatoes, washed and cut into half
• 3-4 garlic cloves, finely chopped
• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• Fresh thyme to taste, finely chopped
• Salt and pepper to taste
• 1 or 2 cucumbers cut into small cubes
• Fresh cilantro, chopped
• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• Apple cider vinegar to taste
• Cumin to taste
• Salt and pepper to taste

Method:

Wash the lentil and soak overnight in water, changing a few times

Cook the lentil in water with the bay leaf and a pinch of salt, first at high heat until boiled and then in low heat until the lentil is soft but not mushy.

In the meantime, cut the tomatoes in half and preheat oven to 375F.

In a medium bowl toss together the tomatoes, garlic, thyme, salt, pepper and olive oil. Mix gently until all the tomatoes are cover with oil.

In an oven safe tray, lay the tomatoes in a single layer. Roast for 40 minutes, and then increase the temperature to 425F if you want to caramelize them a bit.

Once the lentil is all cooked, drain well and place in a medium bowl. Let it cool.

Add to the lentil bowl roasted tomatoes, cucumber, cumin, olive oil, apple cider vinegar, cilantro, salt and pepper. Toss gently and serve.

Did you know that lentils are legume? Lentils are high in protein and fiber. Moreover, lentils are a good source of folate and manganese and so easy to prepare.

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Have you ever seen or tasted lemon cucumber? This is sure my first time ever…we picked a small plant when we decided to put a small vegetable garden on the rooftop. Since we have never tasted or seen lemon cucumber, we decided to give this plant a try…so after a few weeks we harvested our first crop and made salad with it…so interesting!

The lemon cucumber as the name says it…resembles lemon due to the round shape and yellow color. Lemon cucumbers are sweeter than the regular cucumbers. The skin is a bit hard, therefore it is better peeled.

No recipe…I simply tossed the peeled cut up lemon cucumbers with tomatoes, fresh chopped cilantro, fresh squeezed lemon juice, extra virgin olive oil, salt and pepper…so refreshing!

Anyway, before I go I would like to share some of my summer harvest before the summer is over…All these vegetables were ”collected” from our rooftop garden.  The vegetables were planted in individual pots and it was very fun seeing them grow from a small plant to fully grown plants loaded with flowers and then seeing the flowers turn into fruits/vegetables…even more exciting when we got to serve the same fruits/vegetables on our dinner table.

Now…take a look of some of my harvest…

I hope this post entice you to try planting some edible vegetables…it is sure a lot of fun!

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In spite of many people already feeling Fall, we are still enjoying summer. As a matter of fact, part of July and August were so overcast here that we thought that this year we would not have summer at all…luckily, summer is finally here at the South Bay. We have been spending a lot of time walking at the beach and enjoying the weather…with that being said, I am still in the mood for salad.

This is the first time that I made salad with kale. I usually make kale chips or add to soup….after seeing so many kale salads,  I decided to  eat it raw, and I felt in love with it, although I must admit that my husband did not care much for it. He is a little biased because he never liked kale and after baking loads and loads of kale chips he finally started to accept them…maybe after more batches of kale salad, he will acquire the taste for it…

Since kale is kind of chewy, I decided to add quinoa so the texture of the  kale could be masked by the soft and nutty flavor of quinoa. And citrus dressing was a natural way to break the bitterness of the kale…

Ingredients:

1 bunch of kale, I used the curly ones
5 to 6 tablespoon orange champagne muscat vinegar, I used the one from Trade Joe’s
½ red quinoa (or regular quinoa)
2 tablespoons olive oil
Dry cranberry to taste
Salt and pepper to taste
1 can of Mandarin oranges
Roasted sliced almond

Method:

Cook the quinoa according to the instruction on the package. Once cooked, let it cool and place in the refrigerator for approximately 1 to 2 hours.

In the meantime, remove the kale leaves from the ribs and torn the leaves into small pieces (1/2 inch). Wash thoroughly and spin it dry.

In a bowl, add the orange champagne muscat vinegar and using your hands, gently squeeze the kale leaves until tilted. Place in the refrigerator for 15 to 30 minutes.

Remove the kale leaves from the refrigerator and add all the ingredients but the toasted sliced almond and Mandarin oranges.

Mix until all the ingredients are well mixed.

Place in serving bowl and sprinkle with the toasted almond and Mandarin oranges.

If you enjoy this simple and quick recipe of kale salad you might want to check on Kale Chip or Quinoa Salad with Mint recipe.

Did you know that kale is super rich in vitamin K? Vitamin K is crucial for the body function but one has to be cautious since too much vitamin K can interfere with some anticoagulant medications. Moreover, kale contains oxalate which affects the absorption of calcium, therefore avoid eating calcium rich food with kale.

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This is a fairly simple dish. The combination of chicken with crimini mushroom in a light wine sauce together with the creamy soft polenta is delicious. The polenta being soft and creamy absorbs the sauce from the chicken…therefore is loaded of flavor.

Ingredients:

1 chicken breast, cut in strips.
2 tablespoon all purpose flour
2 cloves of garlic, chopped
½ red onion thinly sliced
8 oz crimini mushroom, sliced
Salt and pepper to taste
1 tablespoon butter
2 tablespoon olive oil
¼ cup red wine

1/3 cup cornmeal
1 2/3 cup chicken broth
Salt and pepper to taste
1 tablespoon butter

Method:

To the chicken breast add salt, pepper and flour. Mix gently so all the chicken strips are slightly cover with flour.

In the meantime boil the chicken broth with cornmeal, salt, pepper and 1 tablespoon of butter. Cook in low heat for approximately 5-8 minutes.

In a pan melt the butter with 1 tablespoon olive oil and stir fry the chicken until golden brown both side. Set aside. In the same pan add 1 tablespoon of olive oil and the garlic, when the garlic turns golden add the onion, until almost soft, then add the mushroom. Cook for another 1 to 2 minutes and add the red wine. Cook for 2 more minutes.

To serve, spoon the soft polenta on the plate by making generous dent in the middle. Spoon the chicken with mushroom on top of the polenta. Serve hot.

Hope you enjoy this dish and have a great day!

Did you know that mushrooms are rich in Vitamin D? Vitamin D has an important role in maintaining the calcium balance in the bones by promoting calcium absorption in the intestine, therefore a potential treatment for osteoporosis.

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This is a very simple dessert made with corn. In Brazil this kind of dessert is mainly served in the month of June in parties called “Festa Juninas”, which celebrates popular saints like Saint John, Peter and so on. These celebrations are also important in North Europe country, such as Denmark, Finland, Sweden and in some extent in Ireland, Britain, France, Italy, Portugal, Spain. Since it is corn season…here we are!

Ingredients:

4 ear of corn
1 ½ cup milk
4 tablespoon sugar
½ tablespoon butter
Ground cinnamon

Method:

Remove the kernel of the corn. Place ½ of the kernels in the blender with half of the milk and blend for approximately 3 minutes.

Strain the corn mixture in a pan. Do the same thing with the other half of the corn kernels and milk.

Place the corn milk in a medium heat, add the sugar and the butter. Stir constantly, until bubbling. The corn milk will be of a creamy consistency. Pour into small ramekins, and sprinkle with cinnamon.

Serve warm or cold.

Did you know that corn is used to produce fuel alcohol? The fuel alcohol or biofuel is added to gasoline as additive, so the gasoline burns cleaner, reducing air pollution.

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I love lavash bread, is something that you will always find in my kitchen. I usually use as pizza dough, quesadilla or as a toast. This time, instead of using tortillas for my shrimp tacos I use the lavash bread.

By the way, have a nice and safe Labor Day 

Ingredients:

For the shrimp
1 lb large shrimp deveined and clean
3 green onion finely chopped
4 garlic cloves chopped
Pinch of cumin
Salt and pepper to taste
Pinch of paprika
1 tablespoon olive oil

For the salsa
2 Roma tomatoes, without seed and chopped
1 jalapeno finely chopped
½ red onion finely chopped
½ bunch cilantro finely chopped
Pinch of salt
1 tablespoon apple cider vinegar

Romaine lettuce shredded

Method:

For the shrimp
In a bowl place the shrimp and add all the ingredients, let it sit for 5 to 10 minutes and sautee in a hot pan.

For the salsa
Add all the ingredients of the salsa in a small bowl

Assembly of the “tacos”

Set the lavash bread in a plate, place the shrimps, the salsa and top it with the shredded lettuce. Roll it up and enjoy!

Did you know that the baking of lavash is by slapping the flat rolled dough against the hot walls of a clay oven? Lavash is a flatbread very popular in Iran, Armenia, Turkey, Georgia, Pakistan and Azerbajan.

Thank you for stopping by Simple Recipes and have a great week!