Recipe: Vegetarian Cold Noodle Salad

While this might be called “vegetarian” it certainly doesn’t have to be. It would also be great with warm or cold cooked chicken… or! MMmmmmm… with medium-rare, thinly sliced beef strips. Yum.

Ingredients:

  • 1 pound firm tofu
  • 2 tablespoons soy sauce
  • 1 tablespoon rice wine vinegar
  • ¼ teaspoon hot chili oil
  • 1 tablespoon sesame oil
  • ½ teaspoon fish sauce
  • 1 clove garlic, minced
  • ¼ teaspoon crushed red chilis
  • 2 tablespoons honey
  • 2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
  • soba, buckwheat or spinach Chinese noodles
  • ½ cup grape tomatoes, sliced in half
  • ½ cup sugar snap peas
  • 2 green onions, chopped into ¼” pieces
  • ¼ Vidalia onion, sliced thinly
  • 3 medium-sized carrots, julienned
  • 1 tablespoon olive oiltoasted sesame seeds

Directions:

  1. Cut tofu into 1″ cubes, fry on each side in non-stick skillet until browned.
  2. Meanwhile make salad dressing: combine soy sauce, vinegar, chili oil, sesame oil, fish sauce, garlic, chilis and honey in bowl. Add olive oil in slow stream while whisking to form an emulsion. Refrigerate until salad is ready.
  3. Set pot of water to boil on stove, once at a rolling boil, add noodles and cook until tender, usually 4 – 5 minutes. Drain noodles and rinse under cold water. Set aside until vegetables are ready.
  4. Heat non-stick skillet on medium and add a tablespoon olive oil to pan. Add tomatoes and cook until almost at the “blistered” stage. Add peas, onions and carrots, tossing together, just blanching them.
  5. Toss veggies with noodles and add cold dressing, toss with cooked tofu pieces. Plate with a topping of toasted sesame seeds and small drops of sweet chili sauce.

Serves four.