I’ve just returned from the most fun weekend. Friday evening I flew down to San Francisco for BlogHer which was a food blogging conference. There were interesting panels and highly successful panel participants but most fun for me were the terrific people. You see people write frequently that food bloggers are the nicest group of people and, having spent the weekend with a bunch of them, I have to agree. Open, warm, funny, generous, and interesting. I met a few people who I hope will become true friends. And any of them are welcome to come visit me in Seattle.
(On a side note, if you follow anyone on Twitter who was there, or you read the blog of someone who was there – yes, the food was THAT bad. Here is a terrific account of how things went wrong and where they should have gone right.)
Speaking of friends, I cooked for a good one last week. I have mentioned Deb here before several times. She used to be my neighbor and now lives just a few short blocks away. We try to get our kids together once a week at least to play since they are similar ages and they love each other. We also love to have our happy hour wine and catch up. Usually dinner is something really casual. It’s a break for her because she loves to eat vegetarian but is married to a meat and potatoes guy, and it’s a break for me because I get to not cook a big meal. Our standby is baked potatoes with toppings and a big salad but last week my mom was joining us and I had a full box of vegetables from our CSA.
I decided to make this soba noodle dish because, well, it just called to me. I was scrolling through the index of my much beloved Fields of Greens looking for recipes starring bok choy (yes, I got more bok choy) and of course this jumped out at me. Asian noodle dish? Yes please. The three of us loved this and with a little advance prep chopping, it came together incredibly quickly. I added tofu because I almost always do so to Asian food for the added protein.
Buckwheat Noodles with Shiitake Mushrooms, Bok Choy, Ginger and Scallions
Adapted from Fields of Greens
Serves 4
1/2 pound fresh shiitake mushrooms
1/2 large or 2 small heads of bok choy
Salt
12 oz. soba noodles
2 tbsp. light vegetable or peanut oil
3 garlic cloves, minced
2 tbsp. freshly grated ginger
2 scallions, thinly sliced
1 tbsp. dark sesame oil
3 tbsp. mirin (sweet cooking sake)
3 tbsp. soy sauce
3 tbsp. cilantro, chopped
1 tsp. sesame seeds
Set a large pot of water on the stove to boil. Remove the mushroom stems and cut the caps into 1/2 inch thick slices. For small heads of bok choy, slice the stem lengthwise, leaving leaf and stem together. For a large head, slice the stems diagonally, 3/4 inch thick, and slice the leaves into 2-inch -wide ribbons.
When the water boils, add 1 tsp. salt. Add the noodles and cook as directed on the package, about 8-10 minutes. While the pasta is cooking, heat the oil in a large saute pan; add the shiitake mushrooms and 1/4 tsp. salt. Sauté over medium heat for 3-4 minutes, then add the garlic, ginger, chiles, and bok choy and sauté for 2 minutes.
Drain the noodles in a colander when they are just tender. Reduce the heat under the sauté pan and add the scallion, sesame oil, mirin, and soy sauce. Quickly add the noodles, taking care not to overcook the bok choy. Remove from the heat, toss the noodles with the vegetables and cilantro, and season with salt to taste. Sprinkle with sesame seeds.
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oooh! yum! the shots are beautiful. I am sooo gonna make this. I might have to throw a slab of grilled meat on for the hubbs, but this looks tops in my book!
Comment by Tracy — September 28, 2009 @ 11:19 pm
It sounds like you all had a fab weekend, frozen food notwithstanding (what IS with that, anyway?). I so wish I could have been there.
Today was rainy and damp, these yummy-looking noodles would have been perfect.
Comment by tara — September 28, 2009 @ 11:55 pm
I love bok choy and I love your photos of this dish! Glad to know you had fun at blogher!
Comment by Veggie Belly — September 29, 2009 @ 12:17 am
Looks delish! Although when you mention baked potatoes with toppings and a big salad…mmm.
Comment by maris — September 29, 2009 @ 2:30 am
Such a delicious, healthy meal.
Comment by Hélène — September 29, 2009 @ 4:17 am
Now this is what I call food. No frozen meals necessary:) It was a pleasure meeting you. You are gorgeous and so sweet. I really hope we can meet up again someday. Our house is always open if you want to come to Salt Lake!
Comment by Maria — September 29, 2009 @ 3:18 pm
I’ll definitely try your recipe, I have some soba in mu cupboard…looks delicious and healthy.
Comment by Juliana — September 29, 2009 @ 7:37 pm
I am kicking myself because I was at Blogher, and didn’t realize that you were, too! I sat with a lovely group of gluten-free girls at lunch. They were all so kind, handing over all their rolls (a highlight of the meal, ha!) So sorry I missed you. I need to figure out how to get to Seattle, and you have an open invitation to come to Phoenix, too.
Comment by Chef Gwen — September 30, 2009 @ 4:58 am
I love it when you mention me in your blog, Dana. It makes me feel special, if not even a little famous. Ha! Seriously though, this soba noodle dish was wonderful-almost as wonderful as my dinner partners. I want to know how you prepared that tofu in the fantastic salad, too! I’ll ask you tomorrow, over wine and Dana Treats. XOXO
Comment by Deb — October 1, 2009 @ 5:31 am
Glad you had a good time at BlogHer! Sounds like it was a lot of fun. I love Asian noodle dishes – this looks awesome.
Comment by Ashley — October 2, 2009 @ 4:03 am
Glad you had a good time at BlogHer! Sounds like it was a lot of fun. I love Asian noodle dishes – this looks awesome.
Comment by MM — October 5, 2009 @ 6:54 pm