Soba Salad with Gochujang Vinaigrette

Hubby and I recently had an interesting conversation about food, things like what we're eating and spending on food. I think I'm fairly good at maximizing the food while minimizing the money, but we could definitely do more. For one thing, we can bring lunch and snacks to work. I usually already do this because my campus doesn't have any food options besides vending machines. Hubby works right next to a food court and a block of restaurants, so he's in the habit of going to lunch. I've always been willing to pack his lunch, but I think there was a lot of peer pressure from his coworkers to go out to eat. But now he wants to bring his lunch, and I couldn't be happier. I'm planning on getting some bento boxes and making it fun and interesting. Doesn't it sound like I'll be packing lunch for a kid? Who knows, maybe he can convince some of his coworkers that the cool kids bring their lunch to work?? How about you? Do you bring your lunch to work?

Since we've had access to so much lettuce lately, it's only natural we'll be bringing salad for lunch. One of the salads I threw together was a soba salad. I know that sounds a little strange, but I’ll tell you why it worked. The baby lettuce I've been getting at the farmers' market actually has flavor! Some taste like mustard greens, others taste subtly sweet, and some have a more familiar lettuce taste. They remind me more of herbs than lettuce. Tossed with the soba and a tasty dressing, it just worked. If you don’t have delicious baby lettuce available, try tossing the noodles with cabbage chiffonade, shredded carrot and finely sliced green onions. Another option is fresh asparagus thinly sliced on the diagonal or fresh sugar snap peas. I left ours "vegetarian" but you could throw in some meat or seafood. Whatever tickles your fancy.

The dressing I threw together is just a variation of my peanut vinaigrette. Yes, I know it’s cheating, but I’m lazy like that. I substituted the peanut butter with Korean hot pepper paste, and nixed the curry powder. Doing so little completely changed the flavor. The result is a little sweet, a little spicy (but not too much for Sonny to eat), a little salty and a little nutty from the sesame oil. If you like Korean flavors, I think you’ll enjoy this.

Gochu jang (Korean hot pepper paste) Vinaigrette
makes about 1/2 to 1 cup

• 1 to 2 tbs Korean hot pepper paste
• 1 tbs honey
• 1 tbs sesame oil
• 3 tbs rice vinegar
• 1 tbs tamari
• 1 clove garlic, minced
• ¼ to 1/3 cup peanut (or a neutral oil)
• soba noodles, cooked according to package directions
• baby lettuce or other vegetables for the salad
  
• toasted sesame seeds for garnish
• cilantro for garnish
  

To make the dressing, combine everything in a medium bowl and whisk until smooth. Taste the mixture and adjust according to your preference (more tamari, honey, etc). If you're happy, start adding the peanut oil slowly all the while whisking to incorporate it. You may not need to add all of it.

To serve, toss the noodles in some dressing and set them atop your lettuce/vegetables. Top with your garnishes and drizzle more dressing on top, if desired.

I’m going to submit this to Weekend Herb Blogging , which was created by Kayln's Kitchen and is currently being hosted by maninas:food matters. It’s a weekly event, so there’s always a chance to participate! Click here to see who's hosting in the coming weeks.

Wanna Join the Dressing Game??

I realize I talk about the weather quite a bit. That’s because I have to endure mostly cold, usually unpredictable weather 8 of the 12 months. It’s something I’m still adjusting to, even though I’ve lived in the Northwest for 3 years (plus almost the same amount of time in DK). I grew up in the desert Southwest and the forecast was basically hot or really hot. If it rained, people would talk about it for days or even years. Same thing in sunny California where the day-to-day temperatures usually didn’t fluctuate more than a few degrees. But the weather up here is just weird, and Mother Nature is being particularly fickle this year. One day it’s 75 and sunny, then the next day we’re down to 52 and raining. We recently had 3 days of intense, almost miserable heat, and now we’re back down to the 60’s and raining. It’s the end of May and I’m afraid to pack away my winter clothes.

The two things I was looking forward to this spring is the return of warm weather (still waiting, but the coming week looks promising) and my local farmers' market. The market started in April, but the offerings have been limited. I think the cold spring we’ve had has taken a toll on the local farms. It doesn’t even seem like there are as may vendors this year. I hope they come back when the weather gets consistently warm. The only consolation is that the quality of the offerings is top notch. For the last 3 weekends I’ve been coming home with loads of wonderful lettuce, which means we’ve been eating salads instead of a proper vegetable with our meals. Sometimes we just eat salad. How's that for fast food?

With all the greenery we're eating, I'm looking for ways to keep it interesting. I’ve started playing a game of sorts where I try to come up with a different dressing every few days. I'd like to see how long I can go without buying a commercial dressing. Sonny even wanted to get in on it. He suggested we try making a Nutella dressing. Since we don’t have Nutella, it was easy enough to shoot down that idea. Instead we came up with a dressing using peanut butter and honey that we both could agree on. Thank goodness.

So, wanna join the dressing game? Got any good ideas? Please share them in the comments and link back to yourself so I can find it!

Have you ever seen such beautiful baby lettuce?

Peanut vinaigrette
makes about 1/2 cup

• 1 tbs smooth peanut butter
• 1 tbs honey
• 3 to 4 tbs rice vinegar
• 1 tbs thin soy sauce (regular soy sauce is fine)
• 1 tsp curry powder or garam masala (use good quality, finely ground or the dressing will be gritty!)
  
• 1 small clove garlic, finely minced
• 1 tsp sesame oil
• about 1/3 cup peanut oil or other neutral oil (but not olive oil)

In a large bowl, whisk all the ingredients, except the peanut oil, until smooth. Taste the mixture. Adjust the flavor according to your taste. Then slowly add the oil while whisking vigorously to incorporate it. You may not need to add all the oil. Taste after 1/4 cup and if it's okay to you, you're done!

We've had this dressing a few times: atop baby lettuce with grilled beef; as a dressing for cold soba noodles; as a dip for crudites.

If you're looking for some tasty ways to dress your greens, you may be interested in this spicy Caesar dressing or this tangy dressing for the classic Chinese-American chicken salad.