Chili Lime Soba Noodle Salad
This dish is full of flavor and tastes great hot or cold. I love using mineral rich, nutty tasting soba noodles as a base combined with antioxidant boosting mint, crunchy cashews and mushrooms. This is the perfect plant based dish but would also taste great with a grilled skirt steak! Let me know what you guys think!
Ingredients:
3 small serrano chiles
1 small garlic clove
Kosher salt
¼ cup plus 2 Tbsp. fresh lime juice
3 Tbsp. fish sauce
3 Tbsp. honey
2 Tbsp. vegetable oil, divided
1 Tbsp soy sauce
3 cups chanterelle mushrooms
6 oz. soba noodles
½ small head Napa cabbage, coarsely chopped
2 mini seedless cucumbers, thinly sliced
½ cup finely chopped mint, plus more leaves for serving
½ cup finely chopped toasted cashews
Directions:
Remove seeds from 2 chiles, then finely chop with remaining chile on a cutting board. Thinly slice garlic. Sprinkle a pinch of salt over. Mash chiles and garlic with the flat side of a chef’s knife on cutting board, until broken down into a coarse paste. Transfer to a large bowl. Add lime juice, fish sauce, honey, and 1 Tbsp. oil, stirring vigorously to dissolve honey.
Bring a medium pot of salted water to a boil. Remove from heat, add noodles, and cover. Let sit, stirring every minute to keep from sticking, until noodles are al dente, 5–8 minutes. Drain and rinse under cold running water. Drain well again and set aside.
Saute mushrooms over medium high heat in 2 tbsp olive oil, a teaspoon of soy or shoyu sauce
Add cabbage mixture, noodles, mushrooms, ½ cup mint, and ½ cup cashews to the bowl with noodles with the dressing. Toss to combine; taste and season with salt if needed. Top with more mint, cashews and a squeeze of lime before serving.