Gluten-Free Soba Noodle Salad
Ever since I first tried classic cold zaru soba with my Dad when I was eleven years old, I have loved them so much and will always take that over udon or other classic Asian noodles when given the choice. Something about the heartiness of buckwheat in a refreshingly cold dish is perfect for summertime.
When I discovered that I had autoimmune issues that greatly benefit from avoiding gluten, I was really excited that I could still eat my soba noodles, because that's just buckwheat flour, right?
NOPE.
Sad Minna realized that every single classic soba noodle found in both Asian specialty stores and American grocery stores ALL contained a blend of buckwheat flour AND wheat flour. Womp womp, bye bye soba. Anyone else go through a similar discovery?
Oh but just kidding about saying goodbye to soba. I have a savior!
I first discovered King Soba last year while perusing Whole Foods, and used the gluten-free sweet potato and buckwheat noodles to make this Spinach Mushroom Soba Bowl with Peanut Sauce for that Thai-food craving.
So I was over the moon when the King Soba team sent over their new line of superfood gluten-free soba noodles! Their noodles are organic, gluten-free, non-GMO, and all kinds of awesome.
This line includes Buckwheat w/Amaranth, Buckwheat w/Quinoa, and Brown Rice & Amaranth w/Kale-- all lower glycemic index than most noodles as well, so your blood sugar won't go carb-coma crashing.
Half of the reason why I love soba noodles is that they can be a casual toss-in to make leftovers that much more interesting, or as I like to call it, "upcycling."
Remember that awesomely crunchy, fresh, colorful Purple Cabbage & Snap Pea Salad w/Sesame-Shallot Dressing I shared with you guys last week? As awesomely crunchy, fresh, and colorful as it was, I got overzealous and made a massive amount of it. Which, then resulted in me feeling a little rabbit-like, munching on this all week.
So! When I got the King Soba noodles in the mail, that little lightbulb in my head went off and I decided to upcycle the salad into a soba noodle salad. You know, the kind I always see at awesome health-food restaurants but can never eat because those soba noodles salads are secretly, mischievously filled with WHEAT flour!
I made this bowl with the Buckwheat with Amaranth soba noodles, as I loved the chewy, hearty texture that contrasted so well with the bright crunchiness of the salad, but really the choice is up to you!
Alrighty, so this recipe is pretty much an easy modification of last week's recipe aka just tossing some noodles in there, but for convenience sake, let's repost the thing in full!
Gluten-Free Soba Noodle Salad
*serves 3
Gluten-free, Vegan, Nut-free, Dairy Free
Ingredients
1 package of King Soba Noodles
1/2 small head of Purple Cabbage (~.5lb)
1/4 lb Sugar Snap Peas, washed and trimmed
Sunflower microgreens to garnish
Dressing:
1/4 cup Toasted Sesame Oil
1/8 cup Rice Vinegar
1/2 small Shallot, diced
.5 tbsp Black Sesame
.5 tsp Garlic Powder
1 tsp Red Pepper Flakes (I used Korean Red Pepper flakes)
Recipe
1. Pour rice vinegar into a small mixing bowl. While whisking rapidly, drizzle toasted sesame oil into the mixing bowl, emulsifying the oil and vinegar. Add diced shallot, sesame, garlic powder, and red pepper flakes, and whisk until well combined. Set aside.
2. Chop purple cabbage into thin slices. It's easiest if you chop the cabbage lengthwise down the middle first, then chop like you would an onion from there. Place chopped cabbage into a large mixing bowl. Slice snap peas into thirds, and add into large mixing bowl. Drizzle dressing on top, and mix well to thoroughly coat veggies with dressing.
3. Cook soba noodles according to package instructions. Drain and rinse. Add soba noodles into large mixing bowl with the salad, and mix well to thoroughly coat noodles with dressing and incorporate salad. Plate, garnish with optional greens, and serve!
*Special thanks to King Soba for inviting Living Minnaly to test out their new line of noodles. As always, all opinions and reviews are my own!
