Here’s another recipe from Super Natural Cooking: Five Ways To Incorporate Whole and Natural Ingredients into Your Cooking: this one a cold noodle salad with a spicy dressing and browned tofu. We got impatient for dinner and didn’t brown the tofu as long as recommended, but it was delicious nonetheless. Leftovers were great the next day. Keep them cool — heating them up will make the noodles and tofu mushy.

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Lisa says:

Hmmm, I don’t know about cold noodles for dinner…

Chris says:

Wait; but you’re the one who cooked!

Lisa says:

Yeah, I just didn’t realize this was a cold dish.

Chris says:

I’m sure it’ll be good.

Lisa says:

Oooh… that sauce is a little spicy!

Chris says:

Yum, yeah it is! There’s a little kick there. It’s really good. So what do you think about the fact that it’s cold?

Lisa says:

Well I thought it would be weird, but I actually really like it. The buckwheat noodles rule.

Chris says:

Ditto. I think we could have cooked the tofu a little more, but other than that it’s pretty awesome. Let’s make this again for sure!

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Otsu
Grated zest of 1 lemon
Fresh ginger, cut into a 1-inch cube, peeled, and grated
1 tbsp honey
3/4 tsp cayenne pepper
3/4 tsp fine-grain sea salt
1 tbsp freshly squeezed lemon juice
1/4 cup rice vinegar
1/3 cup soy sauce
3/4 tbsp extra-virgin olive oil
3/4 tbsp toasted sesame oil

12 oz dried buckwheat soba noodles
12 oz extra-firm nigari tofu
1/4 cup chopped fresh cilantro
3 green onions, thinly sliced
1/2 cucumber, peeled, cut in half lengthwise, seeded, and thinly sliced
1 small handful of cilantro sprigs, for garnish
1/4 cup toasted sesame seeds, for garnish

Make the dressing by combining the zest, ginger, honey, cayenne, and salt in a food processor and process until smooth. Add the lemon juice, rice vinegar, and soy sauce, and pulse to combine. With the machine running, drizzle in the oils.

Cook the soba in plenty of rapidly boiling salted water just until tender, then drain and rinse under cold running water.

While the pasta is cooking, drain the tofu, pat it dry, and cut it into cubes. Cook the tofu in a dry nonstick (or well-seasoned) skillet over medium-high heat for a few minutes, until the pieces are browned on one side. Toss gently once or twice, then continue cooking for another minute or so, until the tofu is firm, golden, and bouncy.

In a large mixing bowl, combine the soba, the ¼ cup cilantro, the green onions, cucumber, and about ⅔ cup of the dressing. Toss until well combined. Add the tofu and toss again gently. Serve on a platter, garnished with the cilantro sprigs and the toasted sesame seeds.

Serves 4-6.