Winter Wonder Buckwheat Soba Noodles with Bangarang Tahini Sauce
This was dinner on repeat last week: Buckwheat Soba Noodles with Bangarang Tahini Sauce! Add to that some broccoli (sauteed with coconut aminos, coconut oil and chili flakes) and butternut squash (roasted with allspice and cinnamon). It’s filling and flavorful and I now I'm in love with gluten free soba noodles. And it all comes together in 35 minutes!
I often tell my friends that I could write a whole blog dedicated just to the quick meals I make for dinner. I don’t post most of my dinner inspirations for two reasons: 1. I eat at like 8pm every night. All of my photography is done in natural light. And I just can’t bring myself to share fugly food! And, 2. Dinner time has become my free time to play and explore. I take a glance at what I’ve got in the fridge and pantry — usually a random selection of fruit, veg and herbs. I do a quick brainstorm. I grab onto a sliver of thought and get straight to cooking.
Did I ever tell you Logan works for an online grocery (in addition to owning a chocolate & coffee company)? Well, he does. And one of the benefits of that work is getting lots of free, random food (seriously, I still don’t understand this system). Sometimes he comes home with a giant box of pears and celery. Other times its like 12 jars of discontinued cashew butter. Our pantry gets stocked out with curious items and staple foods alike.
This odd situation forces me to think outside of the box when it comes to meal planning. What do we have in the fridge that I didn’t plan for? Cucumber, goat yogurt, dill? Alright, tzatziki it is! Or maybe we have a surplus of frozen pineapple? Guess I’ll be testing a pineapple coconut milk lassi…
It occasionally inspires new recipes for the blog (like this one and this one). I made this buckwheat soba dinner one day last week because we were overloaded with broccoli. So Logan picked up some soba noodles and this recipe jumped out of my brain onto the plate.
Buckwheat soba noodles are tender and slightly earthy. The tahini sauce is spicy, creamy and savory. It’s so delicious. On everything. It makes a bangarang addition to noodles with cooked veg. But I also dip raw sugar snap peas in it. I drizzle it over avocado toast. It’s great overtop of a mound of garlicky greens or roasted beets. It’s a wonder sauce.
A little note, the recipe looks like a lot of ingredients. But it's actually a lot of the same ingredients used repeatedly for the broccoli, squash and sauce (e.g. tamari, chili flakes, maple syrup, olive oil). Fear not, friends!
If you’re gluten free, look for 100% buckwheat soba. Check the ingredients on the back of the package, as a buckwheat & wheat blend is fairly common. You can find 100% buckwheat soba at most Organic or gourmet groceries and online. If you’re not gluten free, you can use regular soba noodles or the buckwheat & wheat blend soba as you like.
- Broccoli
- 2 heads broccoli, cut into florets
- 2 teaspoons coconut oil
- 1 teaspoon mirin or white cooking wine
- 2 teaspoons tamari*
- dash red chili pepper flakes
- teaspoon maple syrup (or honey etc.)
- 1/2 teaspoon brown rice vinegar
- Butternut Squash etc.
- 1 large butternut squash, peeled and cut into 1" cubes
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 1 tablespoon maple syrup (or honey etc.)
- 1 tablespoon apple cider vinegar
- 2 tablespoons tamari
- 1/2 teaspoon ground allspice
- 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- + chili flakes, to taste
- + black pepper, to taste
- + coarse sea salt, to taste
- Buckwheat noodles + drizzle olive oil
- Tahini Sauce
- 1/2 cup tahini
- 1/4 cup water
- 1/3 cup olive oil
- 2 tablespoons tamari
- 1 tablespoon sriracha
- juice of 1 lime
- 1 garlic clove, minced
- scant 1 tablespoon maple syrup (or honey etc.)
- + salt & black pepper, to taste
- Place a saucepan over medium high heat. Add the broccoli florets and about 1 inch of water and cover to steam. Once the water has steamed off, add the coconut oil, mirin, tamari, red chili pepper flakes, maple syrup and brown rice vinegar. Cook covered 5-8 minutes, until the liquid has cooked off completely and the broccoli is soft. Set the broccoli aside, covered.
- Preheat the oven to 425F. Line a large baking sheet with parchment paper and set aside. Place the butternut squash cubes in a large mixing bowl. In a separate mixing bowl whisk together the olive oil, maple syrup, apple cider vinegar, tamari, allspice, cinnamon, chili flakes and black pepper + salt to taste. Pour the sauce over the butternut squash and toss it all together. Spread the squash out on the baking sheet evenly. Roast for 15-20 minutes, until the squash is tender and beginning to brown.
- Make your buckwheat noodles according to package instructions. Then drain and rinse the buckwheat in cool water, tossing the buckwheat gently so that all of the starch is removed. Place the noodles back in a serving dish and toss with a little bit of olive oil to keep them from sticking. Set aside.
- In a small mixing bowl, whisk together all of the tahini sauce ingredients: tahini, water, olive oil, tamari, sriracha, lime juice, garlic clove, and maple syrup.
- To serve, plate the broccoli, squash and noodles and drizzle the tahini sauce over everything. Bangarang!