This easy, light salad combines a few ingredients into a subtle, delicious vegan dish that’s ready fast and is a great lunch or dinner option. #meandthemoose #lunch #dinner #recipes #easyrecipes #vegan #vegetarian

Before the well of summer cucumbers runs dry, make this easy, light salad that’s ready in a snap and is, at least in this house, very kid-approved!

We eat a lot of Japanese food in our house, so my love for these ingredients runs deep. I absolutely can’t turn down a seaweed salad. Ditto nutty buckwheat soba noodles. Unlike whole wheat or other whole grain noodles, soba doesn’t have that gummy (unless you WAAAAAY overcook it!) or gritty texture that can plague say, whole what spaghetti, so the flavor of the noodles really shines.

Everything about this salad is subtle. There aren’t any overwhelming flavors and all of the elements are in harmony with each other: A little salty, a little sweet, a little nutty, a little tangy, a little briny, and a little cool. The seaweed adds a salty, funky flavor and a little crunch. The cucumber adds even more crunch and and is a cooler counterpoint to the sauce that’s made of soy, rice vinegar, brown sugar, and sesame oil.

While this is a light salad that we usually eat as a side (though I’ve had it alone for lunch and it’s V satisfying), the soba offer some heft that leaves you feeling pretty full. My 6-year-old loves it because he loves anything with soy sauce and my almost 18-month-old loves it because he would eat noodles all day, every day.

But the real key to this salad is getting rid of the excess water from the cucumbers, noodles, and rehydrated seaweed. It’s a funny recipe because you have to add water to each element before you get rid of it. But the more you squeeze out, the more potent the sauce tastes. It’s worth a little elbow grease!

A couple of notes:

I used hijiki seaweed in developing this recipe because I love it, but have JUST NOW learned that it naturally contains a really high level of inorganic arsenic, which can be carcinogenic to humans. Whoopsie daisy. Instead, sub in wakame, which doesn’t contain the same levels of arsenic and is prepared roughly the same way—just rehydrate in water while you prep the rest of the salad.
In the US, you can find dried wakame seaweed in Japanese grocery stores, health food stores, or in the all-purpose grocery store (our Whole Foods has it).
Before you add the rice vinegar, check your bottle’s label and see if you have plain rice vinegar or “seasoned” rice vinegar. The “seasoned” variety has some added sugar already, so I decrease the brown sugar a little bit to avoid over-sweetening the sauce. See recipe note for exact changes.

Cucumber, seaweed, and soba noodle salad

Time: About 35 minutes
Yield: About 6 cups of salad

6 Tbsp dried seaweed (wakame or hijiki, but see note above!)
2 cups hot water
1 large cucumber, thinly sliced
1 tsp salt
9 oz buckwheat soba noodles (2 bundles)
3-4 Tbsp unseasoned rice vinegar*
1.5 tsp brown sugar*
4 tsp soy sauce
4 tsp sesame oil
2 tsp white or black sesame seeds

*if using “seasoned” rice vinegar, decrease the sugar to 1 tsp

Combine the dried seaweed with 2 cups of your hottest water from the tap (you can use boiling water, but hot water works just fine, in my experience). Set aside.

Slice the cucumber into very thin slices. Using a mandolin is great here, but if you don’t have one, a vegetable peeler also does the trick. Or just practice your knife skills- whatever works!

Place the cucumber slices in a strainer and top with 1 tsp salt. Massage a little with your hands and let sit in the sink to drain while you make the rest of the salad.

Boil the water. When the water boils, add the soba noodles and cook according to the package directions (usually about 5 minutes).

While the noodles cook, make the sauce. Combine the rice vinegar, sugar, soy sauce, and sesame oil in a small container and shake to combine.

When the noodles are cooked, drain very well. I even use a few paper towels to dab up some of the excess water.

Add the noodles to a large bowl and set aside.

Drain the seaweed really well. Again, I use a few paper towels to soak up some of the excess water, but I DO NOT squeeze out the seaweed.

Add the seaweed to the noodles in a large bowl and set aside again.

Rinse the salt off of the cucumbers and drain well. Add the cucumbers to a paper towel, cheesecloth, or dish towel and squeeze to remove as much excess water as possible. Add to the bowl of noodles and seaweed.

Stir the cucumbers, seaweed, and noodles to combine. Top with the sauce and stir well to coat.

Just before serving, top with sesame seeds.

A dairy-free, gluten-free dinner that can be ready in 20 minutes, is your new delicious weeknight dinner go-to. #meandthemoose #20-minutedinner #quickdinner #glutenfree #dairyfree #weeknightdinner

Need a gluten-free, dairy-free, one pan, 20-minute dinner that is full of flavor and will keep you full and satisfied? Well, here you go: Coconut turmeric noodles!

Take me to the recipe!

This dish is on our weeknight rotation primarily because it’s really delicious and crazy fast to put together. It’s a filling meatless meal (aside from the fish sauce), but is also a great base for fish, shellfish, chicken, or pork, either leftover or fresh.

I lightly adapted this one from a Bon Appetite recipe that I found when I decided that we should eat more turmeric.

I included a range for the honey and fish sauce so that you can suit this dish to your tastes. I like it with the larger amounts because the combination of sweet and savory is my jam. But some people prefer a sweeter or more savory dish, so edit as you will.

Coconut turmeric noodles

Lightly adapted from Bon Appetite

Time: about 20-25 minutes, all active
Yield: about 3 adult servings, or 2 adult and 2 kid servings

8 oz rice noodles (measure dry)
1 Tbsp coconut oil
2 large shallots, thinly sliced
4 large garlic cloves, minced
½ inch piece of fresh ginger, finely grated (about 1 tsp)
1 tsp turmeric
¼ tsp black pepper
½ tsp kosher salt
1 can coconut milk
1½ -2 Tbsp honey
1-2½ Tbsp fish sauce (to taste)
1-2 cups shredded kale/bok choi/greens of any kind

Cook your noodles according to the package directions. If your package gives a range of cooking times, choose the lowest time. If it doesn’t give a range, subtract 1-2 minutes from the total. You’ll continue to cook the noodles in the sauce, so you want them al dente.

While the water is boiling and the noodles are cooking, get your other ingredients together.

Melt the coconut oil over medium heat. Add the shallots and cook for 2-3 minutes until the onions are soft and translucent. Add the garlic and the ginger and cook for another 1 minute, until fragrant.

Add the turmeric, pepper, and salt and stir well to coat the onion and garlic mixture. Let cook for 1 minute until fragrant.

Add the coconut milk and stir to melt any solids. Add 1½ Tbsp of honey and 1 Tbsp of fish sauce and stir well. Increase the heat to medium-high and bring the mixture to a boil. Reduce the heat to medium-low. Taste the sauce for seasonings and add more honey and fish sauce to taste.

Add the noodles and shredded greens to the sauce and stir well. Let cook, bubbling slightly, until the sauce has thickened to your liking, the noodles are fully cooked, and the greens are wilted, about 4-5 minutes.

Me & The Moose

Me & The Moose

Elevated family food

Me & The Moose

Cucumber, seaweed, and soba noodle salad

Cucumber, seaweed, and soba noodle salad

Coconut turmeric noodles

Coconut turmeric noodles

Me & The Moose