If you read my latest Life post (or if you didn’t you can get up to speed here), you will know that M and I went on a crazy travel adventure for four months. We got to see amazing sites and eat delicious food. What you will also know is that as much as we loved the food, we were craving cold, fresh, and crunchy aka raw vegetables. Staying healthy while traveling is not an easy feat, even with all the walking and sweating. Between dodging soggy sketchy lettuce and eating a lot a lot of fried oily food, I knew my nutrition was severely lacking.
Insert my newest recipe, cold soba noodle salad with miso salmon. It has the cold (check) refreshing crunch (double check) of vegetables (triple check) combined with the protein from the noodles and salmon, top it off with a zesty dressing and bam my complete post-travel dream meal.
But that dream meal didn’t come too quickly. When I got back into the kitchen ready to work on this blog, I was filled with apprehension and a bit of anxiety. It had been so long, will I still enjoy it?
Since returning home I have definitely been cooking, but the food I was making was for sustenance. Thinking of this dish was a bit of a process but within minutes of prepping the ingredients and M snapping a few shots, I was at ease.
Using fresh (from the garden!) wholesome ingredients to create dishes that make me smile and M do a happy dance is all I need–a mantra I must repeat to myself!
I suggest starting with making my latest recipe below. The components of the dish are simple, while the miso marinade on the salmon adds an unexpected punch. The perfect salad for a beautiful summer’s day.
COLD SOBA NOODLE SALAD WITH MISO SALMON
Yummy and refreshing salad with a punch of miso.
Ingredients
- Miso Marinade:
- 1 tbsp miso paste
- 1/2 tbsp grapeseed oil
- 1 tbsp rice vinegar
- 1 tbsp mirin
- 1 tbsp soy sauce
- Salad Ingredients:
- ~ 300g salmon filet, skin removed
- 1/2 medium sized red onion, thinly sliced
- 1 mini cucumber, thinly sliced
- snowpeas, large handful or about 30
- 2 mandarin oranges, peeled and segmented
- ~250g soba (buckwheat) noodles
- 2 large green onions
- black sesame seeds, for garnish
- Dressing:
- 1 tsp sesame oil
- 2 tbsp rice vinegar
- 1 tbsp soy sauce
- 1 inch nob ginger, grated
- 1 tbsp mirin
- 1 1/2 tbsp fresh squeezed orange juice
Directions
- Step 1 Combine miso marinade ingredients in small bowl, cover and rub the sauce into the salmon. Place in the fridge to marinate while preparing the rest of the salad.
- Step 2 Get all of the salad ingredients chopped and ready, set aside.
- Step 3 Preheat oven to 400F.
- Step 4 Bring a large pot of water to a boil and add soba noodles, cook for 3-4 minutes. Do not over cook! Once finished drain immediately and run cool water through noodles to stop them from cooking.
- Step 5 Take salmon out of the fridge, place green onion stems on a baking sheet and place salmon over top. Bake for about 10 minutes or until no longer raw. *if you don’t want your snowpeas completely raw, toss them on the baking tray for the final minute or two of baking.
- Step 6 Combine dressing ingredients in a large salad bowl-add the noodles and stir to coat.
- Step 7 Time to serve- place noodles in individual bowls and top with the veggies, mandarin wedges, salmon (flaked in pieces) and black sesame seeds.