Sunday Salads- Sesame Soba Salad with Cucumber and Kale

Sometimes I make something and I just know I have to tell you about it right away. I need you to know how great it is, I need to tell you now.

Sometimes I make something, and I tinker around with it. I change things up, and months after the first time I decide it’s okay to write about it. It’s deserving.

But sometimes, and this is true often more of cooking than baking, that I make something, and it seems so obvious, so easy it would seem almost insulting to you to give it a recipe and put it up here. It’s something that I make so often that I assume everyone does. That it’s just normal and simple and not worthy of the formality of a recipe and a blog post.

But then I realize that everyone cooks different things at home, and something like this soba noodle salad, which I am making variations on almost weekly, might be worth sharing.

Soba noodles are a staple in my house. I make a big bowl and they last a few days, sometimes serving with steak or some fish, but just as often eating it straight up. It’s a quick lunch or dinner, and it feels good when you eat it. I find myself craving it in the summer months, it’s light and cold and filled with things that my body needs.

So I hope that you look at this not just as a recipe, but as a starting point, mix it up, add in things that you have in your fridge, make it spicier, or lime-ier.

You get to decide.

Soba Noodle Salad with Cucumber and Kale

2 bunches of Soba Noodles (they are usually sold in pre-portioned bunches)

1/2 English Cucumber, thinly sliced

1/2 bunch Kale, torn into small pieces off the center stem.

4 Green Onions, thinly sliced on a bias.

1/4 cup Soy Sauce

1 Lime

1 tsp Siracha or other hot pepper- garlic sauce

1/4 cup Sesame Oil

3 tbsp Toasted Sesame Seeds

Bring a large pot of water to a boil.  

Cook the soba to the package instructions. Drain and rinse with cold water, stirring until the noodles cool. If you don’t stir, they won’t cool down properly. 

Meanwhile, mix together the soy, lime, siracha, and sesame oil. Check for seasoning, adding more of whatever you need until it’s perfect. 

Mix sauce with the noodles then mix in the veggies. 

Serve and sprinkle with the sesame seeds. 

Semolina Crusted Tillapia with Dukkah

I was introduced to dukkah by a woman I worked for at Little Nest, and instantly fell in love with it. It’s a beautiful thing dukkah, rich with fennel seeds and cumin drenched in olive oil, and in this version with loads of parsley and cilantro chopped in too. People will tell you that it isn’t dukkah, and they’re sort of right, this is a totally bastardised version, but also the version that I was introduced to, and so now the one I prefer. Traditionally it doesn’t have fresh herbs in it, but it turns what is essentially a spice blend into something to dip bread in, pour over poached eggs, and in this case spoon on top of fish.

Semolina Crusted Tilapia with Dukkah

2 fillets Tilapia

1/4 cup Semolina Flour

Salt and Pepper

Dukkah

1/2 cup Hazelnuts

1/4 cup Toasted Sesame seeds

1 tsp Fennel Seeds

1 tsp Cumin Seeds

1 tsp Corriander Seeds

1 cup Flat Leaf Parsley Leaves

1 cup Cilantro Leaves

1/2 cup Olive Oil

Salt Pepper

Preheat the oven to 350F.

Put the hazelnuts in the oven and cook for about 15 minutes, tossing them every few minutes until they are toasted all the way through.

In a small pan over low heat toast the fennel, cumin and coriander seeds until they are fragrant but not smoking.

Put them into a food processor, a spice grinder, or a mortar and pestle and grind until fine.

Add in the hazelnuts and the sesame seeds and crack them but you want them still coarse.

If your using a food processor add in the leaves and the olive oil and blitz until the leaves are broken up but not pureed. Or you can cut them by hand.

Add in the salt and pepper and check your seasoning.

Turn your broiler on high and let it warm up a bit.

Mix the salt, pepper and semolina together on a plate and dip the fillets in making sure they’re well coated. Put them on a lightly oiled pan and then on the top shelf of the oven.

Keep them in until the tops are slightly browned and they are cooked all the way through.