Recipe of the Month: Tofu Soba Noodles

Last week, while poking around the internet looking for more vegan whipped cream ideas, I happened on a recipe at Damn Delicious for a soba noodle salad that got high marks from readers. If I were still on my carb-controlled diet, I would have had to pass this recipe up with a regretful sigh, but now my doctor has given me permission to indulge in carbs again so long as they're balanced by adequate protein and non-starchy veggies. Since this dish contained loads of tofu and shredded cabbage, it seemed to fit the bill admirably. So I printed it out, and Brian gave it a try.

The recipe had two points in its favor right away. First, it didn't call for any ingredients we didn't have on hand already. We'd had a package of soba (a type of Japanese noodle containing a mixture of wheat and buckwheat flour) languishing in our pantry the whole time I was on my carb restrictions, and we'd taken advantage of the St. Patrick's Day sales to grab a cheap cabbage at our local supermarket. (This turned out to be one of the last purchases we made there, as the store shut down just a few days later. But that's a story for another post.) The soba noodles were packaged in little bundles weighing a little over 3 ounces each, making it tricky to measure out the 8 ounces required for a half batch, so he just skimped slightly and used two bundles. For those who don't have soba in the pantry, a half-pound of either whole-wheat or white spaghetti would probably work almost as well.

The other advantage of the recipe is that it was extremely easy to prepare. The hardest part was probably prepping the ingredients: shredding the cabbage, grating the ginger, slicing the scallions, and cubing the tofu. Once all that was done, the recipe came together in no time. Just cook the noodles (which takes less than 10 minutes), whisk together the dressing, and then brown the tofu, cabbage, garlic, and ginger as if you were making a stir-fry. Then toss all that together with the noodles, sprinkle on the scallions, and it's done. Crushed peanuts and Sriracha are listed as optional toppings; we took the option for the peanuts but skipped the Sriracha, as we didn't have any (and I must confess to being a bit of a spice wimp anyway).

Even without the extra spice, this simple recipe was not by any means lacking in flavor. The ginger, garlic, soy sauce, sesame oil, and rice vinegar all added their own piquancy to the dish, and the contrast of crunchy cabbage, soft tofu, and chewy noodles provided plenty of texture interest. If the salad had a fault, I'd say it was a little too heavy on the vinegar; its acidity tended to overbalance and distract slightly from from the other flavors. So next time we make this dish, we'll probably try cutting this ingredient down from a quarter-cup to 3 tablespoons (or half that amount for a half batch).

And there almost certainly will be a next time, because this recipe ticks all the boxes. It's quick, easy, and tasty. It's also healthy, with protein, starch, and non-starchy veggies all in one bowl. It makes a generous amount: even a half batch with less than the full volume of noodles was enough to feed us both and leave a little bit for a lunch the next day. And all the ingredients are readily available and, on the whole, inexpensive. The only one that's at all pricey is the soba noodles, and one package of those goes a pretty long way. With the amount still left in the package we have, we could make it three more times at least.