Buckwheat Noodle Salad

I love buckwheat noodles because they have great flavor and texture, and they are naturally higher in protein than most pasta. They work well in soups, stir-fried, and in cold salads like this one. This is a salad I come back to time and time again, especially in the spring when red radishes are the first thing to come up in my garden. It is refreshing and easy to make. If you are not eating the salad right away, store the dressing separately because the vinegar can start to break down the noodles a bit. I like to keep the dressing in a little glass jar and then give it a shake before I add it to individual servings. If you store the dressing separately, you may want to add a few drops of sesame oil to the noodles so they don't clump together.

The dressing calls for coconut aminos, which is a great alternative to soy sauce. It is a bit sweeter and has less sodium than soy sauce, and many prefer it due to it's simple and straight forward ingredients. You can find it at most grocers now, especially places like Sprouts, Vitamin Cottage or Whole Foods. It is online (of course) and you can order it through places like Amazon or Thrive Market. I have not yet tried Thrive Market, but have been reading about it and it seems like it can be a good option for hard to find ingredients.

Buckwheat Noodle Salad

Ingredients:

12 oz package buckwheat noodles (3 bundles)

1/2 cucumber, sliced into thin strips
1/2 red bell pepper, thinly sliced
1 carrot, thinly sliced
1/2 cup cabbage, thinly sliced
8 radishes, thinly sliced

1/4 cup rice wine vinegar
1/4 cup coconut aminos (option to sub soy sauce or Bragg's here)
1 Tbsp toasted sesame oil
1 Tbsp sesame seeds
1 tsp minced fresh ginger
salt and pepper to taste

Directions:

Cook the noodles according to the package directions, taking care to keep them al dente. Then drain and rinse the noodles with cold water to stop them from cooking and put them in a large mixing bowl.

While your noodles are cooking, prepare the veggies. I like to try and slice them as uniformly as possible into thin strips. Gently toss the veggies with the noodles.

Put the dressing ingredients (rice wine vinegar, coconut aminos, sesame oil, sesame seeds, and ginger) in a small bowl or jar and whisk or shake to combine.

Taste and adjust the seasonings to your liking, I often add a bit of salt and pepper.