Soba + Shrimp + Peanut Sauce = Love

I cook two ways around my house. There are times when I'm cooking to impress... trying something new and exciting, that I hope to blog about, share with friends, or just feel accomplished after making. Daring Bakers/Cooks, exotic dishes, multi-element Sunday dinners, you know that type of menu. But I can't cook like that every night, so there are plenty of nights when my goal is to make a tasty, fresh, low-fuss meal.

This was just a regular every night dinner. I was making some of the leftover frozen potstickers from last month's Daring Cooks, and I wanted an interesting side dish to serve with the potstickers. I was flipping through some old recipes from Cooking Light, and I came across this recipe for Soba and Slaw Salad with Peanut Dressing. I really like trying different slaw recipes, and I knew I had some leftover soba noodles in my pantry, so I decided to give this a try. WOW! It was simple to prepare, and tasted amazing! The peanut sauce was just the right amout of hot and salty, the cabbage had a nice crunch, and the soba noodles really soaked up the sauce. Every ingredient contributed to the final flavor, and it was pretty darn healthy, too. Not to mention I only had to turn on the stove top for a few minutes to cook the noodles, which means this is a good option for dinner on a hot summer night. This would have been a good stand-alone dish, and the red cabbage stayed crunchy long enough for a couple leftover lunches. Keep an eye out for good prices on shrimp, and use that as your excuse to try this delisious weeknight meal.

Soba and Slaw Salad with Peanut Dressing

from Cooking Light, June 2005

Ingredients
6 ounces uncooked soba (buckwheat) noodles, broken in half
6 cups shredded red cabbage
2 cups grated carrot
3/4 cup thinly sliced green onions, divided
1/2 pound coarsely chopped cooked shrimp
3 tablespoons low-sodium soy sauce
3 tablespoons rice vinegar
1 tablespoon canola oil
2 1/2 tablespoons creamy peanut butter
2 teaspoons Thai chile paste with garlic
2 tablespoons chopped dry-roasted peanuts

Preparation

Cook noodles according to package directions, omitting salt and fat. Drain; rinse with cold water.

Combine noodles, shredded cabbage, carrot, 1/2 cup green onions, and shrimp in a large bowl.

Combine soy sauce and next 4 ingredients (through chile paste) in a small bowl; stir with a whisk until blended. Add soy sauce mixture to noodle mixture, tossing gently to coat. Sprinkle with remaining 1/4 cup green onions and peanuts.