Soba noodles with fresh veggies, topped with tahini sauce, and crunchy toasted nuts – you’re gonna’ love this delicious, protein-rich dish.
About this Soba Noodles Recipe
The thing is, I just really like soba noodles. They taste good, they cook up quickly, and they’re good for you. So, sometimes when I’m staring into the abyss of the pantry and wondering what I can throw together, there are the soba noodles, reminding me that they go with lots of stuff.
Lately, I’ve been toasting nuts and tossing them onto salads and grain bowls. The thought of some toasted nuts, sprinkled with a little cayenne, nestled on top of soba noodles, fresh veggies, and a tart tahini sauce sounded good. It is! Give it a try.
Ingredients
- Soba noodles – made from buckwheat which contains a higher quality of protein than noodles made from wheat.
- Snow peas – add color and crunch, plus they’re easy to find in the produce section.
- Matchstick carrots – use the bagged kind found in the produce section. They’re crunchy and colorful.
- Cabbage – steamed or raw.
- Other veggies – try other veggies that you have on hand, like cauliflower or broccoli. Make it yours!
- Walnuts and pumpkin seeds – toasted with cayenne for a bit of heat.
- Tahini dressing – use tahini, lemon juice, and a sweetener such as honey or maple syrup.
Making Soba Noodles with Veggies
1. Toast the nuts
- Put the nuts in a bowl and spray a small amount of avocado oil (or other light oil) on them so the cayenne pepper will stick to them while they toast.
- Toast them in a 325-degree oven for about six minutes, stirring them halfway through.
- Set them aside after they’re toasted.
2. Make the tahini dressing
I used a recipe from the Minimalist Baker. It’s so easy and good, that I had to share it.
- Put the tahini, ginger, lemon juice, minced garlic, honey, and salt into a bowl and stir them up.
- Add a few tablespoons of water to thin the dressing.
3. Cut up the cabbage and snow peas
- Cut off the ends of the snow peas and then slice each one into two or three pieces.
- Slice the cabbage into 1/2-inch strips.
4. Cook the noodles and cabbage
- Using a steamer pan, put the soba noodles in boiling water.
- Reduce the heat to medium after adding the noodles.
- Put the cabbage in the steamer basket and put the lid on the pan.
- In about five minutes both the noodles and the cabbage will be done.
- Transfer the cabbage to a mixing bowl with ice water to stop it from cooking and bring out the color. This is an optional step, but it yields good results.
- After a couple of minutes, drain the water off the cabbage. It’s now ready to be added to the cooked soba noodles and fresh veggies.
- Pour the noodles into a colander or strainer. There’s no need to rinse soba noodles.
5. Combine the ingredients
- Put the noodles in a bowl and drizzle a small amount of the tahini dressing on them to keep them from sticking to each other.
- Add the cabbage, snow peas, and carrots.
- Mix these ingredients.
- Sprinkle some black sesame seeds on top if you have some.
Serving Soba Noodles with Veggies
I like to put the serving bowl on the table with the dressing and nuts. That way everyone can put on the dressing and nuts right before they dive in to eat this great soba noodle bowl.
Here are the dressing and nuts ready to be added to the bowls. There’s a bit of honey too, in case someone wants theirs a little bit sweeter.
Look at this delicious soba noodle bowl with the tangy tahini dressing and toasted nuts!
Use chopsticks or a fork to gobble up these noodles.
Why add nuts and seeds?
Never mind how good toasted nuts and seeds are on top of these soba noodles and veggies, they contain certain amino acids that combine with other foods to make complete proteins. Adding nuts or seeds to a soba noodle bowl not only gives you more flavor, but it can also provide more protein and some healthy oils. Plus, it takes only a few minutes to toast them in a toaster oven and you can store them in a jar for days.
Tips for Making Soba Noodles with Veggies
- In this recipe, I steamed the cabbage, but that’s an optional step. Cooking the cabbage makes it more tender and brings out the sweetness.
- When you cook the noodles and steam the cabbage, you might need to vent the pan if water splashes out.
- If you choose not to steam the cabbage, cut it into smaller strips, more like what you would do for a slaw recipe.
- I used honey in the tahini dressing, but if you substitute maple syrup or agave nectar, this is a vegan dish.
Soba Noodles with Veggies
Ingredients
Noodle Bowl Ingredients
- 3 ounce package of soba noodles
- 1 cup cabbage sliced
- ⅓ cup snow peas sliced
- 1⅓ cup matchstick carrots
- ¼ cup walnuts toasted
- ¼ cup pumpkin seeds toasted
Tahini Dressing Ingredients
- ⅓ cup tahini
- 3 T lemon juice
- 1-2 teaspoons honey
- 1 clove of garlic minced or put through a garlic press
- 4 teaspoons grated ginger
- Pinch of salt
- 3-6 T water to thin the dressing
Instructions
Make the tahini dressing:
- Put the tahini, grated ginger, lemon juice, minced garlic, honey, and salt into a bowl and stir these ingredients.
- Add a few tablespoons of water to thin the dressing.
Toast the nuts
- Put the nuts in a bowl and spray a small amount of avocado oil (or other light oil) on them so the cayenne pepper will stick to them while they toast.
- Toast them in a 325-degree oven for about six minutes, stirring them halfway through.
- Set them aside after they’re toasted.
Make the noodle bowl
- Cut off the ends of the snow peas and then slice each one into two or three pieces.
- Slice the cabbage into 1/2 inch strips.
- Using a steamer pan, put the soba noodles in boiling water.
- Put the cabbage in the steamer basket and put the lid on the pan.
- In about five minutes both the noodles and the cabbage will be done.
- Transfer the cabbage to a mixing bowl with ice water to stop it from cooking and bring out the color.
- After a couple of minutes, drain the water off the cabbage. It’s now ready to be added to the cooked soba noodles and fresh veggies.
- Pour the noodles into a colander or strainer. There’s no need to rinse soba noodles.
- Put the noodles in a bowl and drizzle a small amount of the tahini dressing on them to keep them from sticking to each other.
- Add the cabbage, snow peas, and carrots.
- Mix these ingredients.
- Sprinkle some black sesame seeds on top if you have some.
- Add tahini dressing and toasted nuts to the bowl.
Notes
- In this recipe, I steamed the cabbage, but that’s an optional step. Cooking the cabbage makes it more tender and brings out the sweetness.
- When you cook the noodles and steam the cabbage, you might need to vent the pan if water splashes out.
- If you choose not to steam the cabbage, cut it into smaller strips, more like what you would do for a slaw recipe.
- I used honey in the tahini dressing, but if you substitute maple syrup or agave nectar, this is a vegan dish.
- I got the tahini dressing recipe from the Minimalist Baker.
Nutrition
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