Soba Noodle Salad with Edamame, Cucumber, Cabbage and Bell Peppers

Here is a quick and super simple Soba Noodle Salad that is so tasty that you won't even notice it's meatless! This Soba Noodle Salad keeps very well and is the perfect, portable picnic food! Bring it to potlucks--it is a crowd-pleaser and kids love it, too!

Ingredients for dressing:

1 Fresno red chile, finely chopped
2 cloves of garlic, finely pasted
1/4 cup soy sauce
1/4 cup Agave
2 tablespoons rice vinegar
2 inches or so of grated ginger
1/3 cup grape seed oil or canola oil or even light olive oil

Ingredients for Soba Salad:

1 red bell pepper, cut into two inch strips
1 English Cucumber, cut into two inch strips
Half a head of cabbage finely shredded or a whole bag of pre-shredded cabbage from Trader Joe's
1-2 cups of pre-shelled edamame (I just use the entire container of edamame from Trader Joe's)
5 bundles of Buckwheat Soba Noodles boiled per package directions (usually I boil them for about 5 minutes so they don't get mushy and rinse in cold water until completely cooled)
4 green onions finely sliced on a bias
3 Tablespoons of black or white sesame seeds, sprinkled for garnish

Mix ingredients for sauce in a big bowl and set aside while you chop the veggies. Add the edamame and cabbage to sauce to wilt the cabbage and marinate the edamame. Add rest of veggies. Add Soba noodles and toss gently to combine. Garnish with sesame seeds.
This is a great side dish or main dish for a light, but satisfying lunch. It is packed with protein from the Soba noodles and edamame.
Enjoy!

'The Innovation of Loneliness'

My friend showed me this great video "The Innovation of Loneliness." (Just a disclaimer, if you are a huge social media fan, you may not like this video. On the other hand, you might also relate to some of the things this video mentions.) I found this to be very powerful and insightful; everything is succinctly stated and the organization of the images with the commentary is spot on.

It makes you feel like despite all this technology, we are inevitably still disconnected. With big data everywhere and everyone constantly plugged in, we tend to miss out on connecting with other human beings.




Some days, I just like to unplug and connect with some real one-on-one time with my friends and family.

Trader Joe's Roasted Coconut Chips are Back!

Just had to report a sighting! I spotted (and hoarded) some bags of Trader Joe's Coconut Chips today after some people commented that they might be out of stock. I am happy to report that the Alameda Trader Joe's has the Coconut Chips back in stock! YAY!!!

Coconut Rice

Coconut Rice is pure heaven in a bowl:  creamy, slightly sweet, slightly salty...completely yummy!

Ingredients:

2 tablespoons coconut oil
3 cups jasmine rice (washed)
1 (13.5 oz) can of coconut milk
2.5 cups of water or as much water is necessary for the water level to reach your middle finger knuckle
1 tablespoon salt
1 tablespoon sugar
Fried shallots for garnish

Heat coconut oil in large dutch oven pot. Add rice and coat with oil to toast lightly. Add coconut milk and water (pour water in coconut milk can to get every bit of milk out). Add salt and sugar. Bring to boil and reduce to simmer; cover and cook for 35-40 minutes or until rice is tender and liquid is absorbed. Turn off heat and let rice sit 10 minutes and fluff with fork or chopsticks when ready to serve. I had to gently mix the rice with a rice paddle a bit because some of the coconut milk mixture settled on the top. I should have cooked it a little longer than 40 minutes, but after it sat for a while, the rice was perfect. Jasmine rice is so fragrant and wonderful on its own, but cooking it in coconut milk just gilds the lily!

*To make fried shallots, simply slice shallots thinly. Fill a small pot with grapeseed oil and add shallots on low heat. This will take about 30-40 minutes to bring up to temperature and fry slowly on low heat. If you add shallots to hot oil, they will singe up almost immediately and burn. So, be patient and these will fry up gently and eventually get nice and crisp. When the shallots are golden and crispy, remove and place on paper towel to absorb oil. Sprinkle with salt. Set aside for garnish for coconut rice.

Coconut rice is a great snack all on its own or makes a nice side for almost any meal. It really makes your dinner feel special and extra tasty!

So Delicious Coconut Milk Creamer

I spotted So Delicious Coconut Milk Creamer a Berkeley Bowl and thought I'd give it a whirl since it was dairy free.  What a huge disappointment!  It was very watery and didn't cut through the coffee at all. I had to keep adding more and more as I drank the coffee just to get it to reach the light brown color I like, and by that time, my coffee got cold!  I will not be buying this So Delicious Coconut Creamer again--it didn't do its job!  I need something that makes the coffee creamy and less bitter.  The So Delicious Coconut Creamer was not coconutty tasting at all or creamy, like the name suggests--it just seemed like I was pouring regular coconut milk in my coffee!  The amount I had to pour in just to get the color to lighten and the coffee to get even a little creamy was a lot, which is not the point of a creamer. 

So Delicious Coconut Creamer was so disappointing, what a misleading product.  So bummed. I thought I was going to have a nice change up for my coffee and wake up to a nice treat, but So Delicious Coconut Milk Creamer was not it!  I am going to stick with the soy creamer instead--much better substitute for half and half because it actually cuts the acidity of the coffee and mimics half and half a lot better.

Sorry, So Delicious, you've let me down this time.

Cilantro Pepita (Pumpkin Seed) Pesto

Had to use up some cilantro before it got brown and gooey, so I decided to make some cilantro pepita pesto.

Super easy to throw together instructions (let the food processor do all the work!):

1 bunch of cilantro
1 small garlic clove pasted
1 cup pepitas (unsalted)
Dash of red pepper flakes
Salt
Pepper
1/2 cup or so Extra Virgin Olive oil
1 lime

Paste the garlic with a hand held microplane into the food processor. Add all the ingredients and whiz it up! Taste and adjust seasoning to your preference.

This is a great dip or bread topper. Add it to some vegan mayo and spread it on a sandwich for extra zing. Stir it into soup as a garnish or saute some kale and beans and add some cilantro pepita pesto as a dressing/flavoring. Of course, this pesto is great on pasta or even whole wheat pasta or barley salad!  Mix it with vegan mayo and more olive oil for a creamy salad dressing. The applications are endless!

Lazy Day Experiment: Penne with Nutritional Yeast

Had to make a quick lunch and felt lazy--or exhausted is more accurate!--so I boiled up some penne pasta and drizzled it with extra virgin olive oil and sprinkled it with nutritional yeast to bump up the protein and fiber.

The result? It wasn't half bad. It was nutty and almost mimicked buttered noodles with cheese.  This is what I call a lazy pantry meal! :)