As many of you know I am not the biggest fan of leftovers, but for some reason I don't mind them if they are vegetarian. I don't know if this is some odd psychological thing, a throwback from my childhood days of being vegetarian or just the way I roll. I did google it and I couldn't find a diagnosis, so I am pretty sure I will survive. Because seriously if there is a medical condition out there, I can find it on the internet. I have finally had to stop looking up my ailments because I have incorrectly diagnosed myself so many times it just isn't funny...including ailments that haven't been around for the last 200 years....yup it is a miracle but they cropped up again in me!!! Don't even ask!!





So tonight I made a Cooking Light recipe for Soba Noodles with Miso-Glazed Tofu and Vegetables. And let me start by saying thanks to the miso this is the first Cooking Light recipe in quite some time that didn't require me to add a ton more salt. This was also my first time having soba noodles and I loved them! I also really enjoyed the texture of the tofu as it is sauteed in canola oil, which gave it a nice crispy crust, yet it is still tofu texture inside. And the sauce had great flavor from the sesame oil, ginger, miso, rice vinegar and soy sauce. I really enjoyed this recipe and it tasted fresh and healthy!


Soba noodles kind of reminded me of Top Ramen, they are salty and have a similar texture. However, they are a thin Japanese noodle made from buckwheat flour. They are normally served hot in a broth or chilled in a sauce. This recipe is kind of a combination as they are warm, but served with a sauce. Soba is often served on New Years and when someone moves. The word "soba," can also be used synonymously to mean any type of noodles, so it can get confusing, but the ones I used for this recipe did use buckwheat flour.


Ok back to this recipe. First of all make the sauce, which consists of canola oil, rice vinegar, white miso, ginger, garlic, soy sauce, sugar and sesame oil. I couldn't find white miso so I used a miso concentrate, which is supposed to be used as a base for miso soup and that worked just great.


Next cook the noodles. The majority of soba noodles I found had you cook them in boiling water for 2 minutes, stir them 5 times with chopsticks (I used a spoon) and drain. That is the process I  followed and they turned out perfectly. On a side note, if you are not as much of a salt fiend as I am you can rinse the noodles after they are done cooking and that will decrease the salty flavor.

In a skillet, heat canola oil and cook the tofu slabs for 3 minutes on each side, until they are browned. Add 1 T of sauce to the pan.


Add additional oil to the pan and saute the asparagus and mushrooms for 4 minutes. I truly thought 4 minutes wasn't nearly enough time to cook the asparagus through, but it was perfect.


The recipe has you add sauce to the noodles and vegetables separately, however I just tossed the noodles and vegetables together and poured the sauce over both. In my humble opinion, that seemed to work just fine!

Serve the tofu on top of the noodle/vegetable mixture and top with green onions. Voila!


2 1/2 tablespoons canola oil, divided
3 tablespoons rice vinegar
2 tablespoons white miso
1 tablespoon minced peeled ginger
1 tablespoon minced garlic
1 tablespoon lower-sodium soy sauce
1 1/2 teaspoons sugar
1 teaspoon dark sesame oil
4 ounces uncooked organic soba noodles
1 (14-ounce) package extra-firm tofu, drained
6 ounces shiitake mushrooms, stems discarded
1 pound asparagus spears, trimmed and cut into 1-inch pieces
1/4 cup thinly sliced green onions
Preparation

1. Combine 1 tablespoon canola oil and next 7 ingredients (through sesame oil) in a medium bowl, stirring with a whisk.
2. Cook noodles according to package directions; drain and rinse. Combine noodles and 1/4 cup miso mixture in a bowl; toss to coat.
3. Heat a large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. Add 1 tablespoon canola oil to pan; swirl to coat. Cut tofu crosswise into 4 (1-inch-thick) slices. Add tofu to pan; cook 3 minutes on each side or until browned. Add 1 tablespoon miso mixture to pan; toss to coat. Remove tofu from pan; keep warm. Add remaining 1 1/2 teaspoons canola oil to pan; swirl to coat. Add mushrooms and asparagus to pan; sauté 4 minutes or until tender. Add remaining 2 tablespoons miso mixture to pan; toss to coat. Sprinkle with green onions. Arrange 1/2 cup noodle mixture in each of 4 bowls; top each serving with 1/2 cup vege­table mixture and 1 tofu steak


This is really a great leftover dish or a healthy dinner! For all my vegetarian readers-enjoy! And for all my carnivores-don't worry I will cook you some meat very very soon!! Cheers!