cold soba noodle salad with raw veggie noodles + a spicy sunflower seed sauce
I feel like I realized it was summer a little late this season. Maybe it's because I have had a lot going on right now in my personal life, and it feels a bit like the days and weeks are blending together. It was not until last week when I went to the market to collect a few things that I saw an abundance of ripe, local tomatoes, and it clicked. Oh, it's summer.
OH … It's summer!!!
Summer is my favorite time of year. I know …. I say that every season (except for winter) … but with summer, I mean it. Maybe it's because I was born in the summer, or maybe it's because I LOVE humidity and hot weather, or maybe it's because I could live in sun dresses, or maybe it's all the summer veggies. I just love this time of year.
Give me a blanket on a beach, a giant summer salad, a glass of rosé, my dog + my man … and I am a happy lady.
I'm a big fan of eating lots of raw veggies in the summer. It's right about now that I break out the julienne peeler and peel any vegetable I can get my hands on. My raw veggie intake triples, and I naturally crave more raw food than cooked food. It's our body's way of telling us what it needs, and in the summer, raw veggies equals energy on those hazy hot days.
This cold soba noodle salad is the perfect way to increase your raw veggie intake in the summer. With more raw veggies than soba noodles, and a creamy sauce made with sunflower butter (think pad thai peanut sauce… yum), this is a perfect salad to pack up and eat on the beach on a hot summer day.
cold soba noodle salad with raw veggie noodles + a spicy sunflower seed sauce
MAKES
enough for two as a main or a few people as a side
INGREDIENTS
for the sunflower seed sauce:
1/4 cup of sunflower seed butter (feel free to sub any nut or seed butter you have on hand)
1 clove of garlic, minced
1 red chili, seeded and minced
2 tablespoons of tamari (or low sodium soy sauce)
1 tablespoon of toasted sesame oil
1 teaspoon of ginger, peeled and minced
2 tablespoons of lime juice (the juice of one lime)
3-4 tablespoons of water
a pinch or two of red pepper flakes, if you want extra heat
1 package of soba noodles
1 green zucchini, peeled with a julienne peeler
1 yellow zucchini, peeled with a julienne peeler
3 carrots, peeled with a julienne peeler
2 cucumbers, peeled with a julienne peeler
2 green onions, sliced
1 avocado, sliced
a handful of sprouts
some sesame seeds for garnish
METHOD
- Start by making the sunflower seed sauce. Add all of the ingredients to a food processor and pulse several times until smooth. Set aside until you're ready to assemble.
- Cook the soba noodles according to the package. Rinse under cold water.
- Toss the noodles with 3/4 of the sunflower sauce. Distribute the noodles into individual bowls, then add in the julienned veggie noodles, avocado, green onion, sprouts, and finish by drizzling the remaining 1/4 of the sauce and top with sesame seeds.