When a heatwave hits, the last thing I want to do is turn on my oven. San Francisco apartments rarely have air conditioning, so even a small heatwave can make cooking unbearable. So when it finally starts to cool off, I look forward to an easy healthy meal with limited stovetop time. Enter this spicy soba noodle salad with shrimp and plenty of veggies to keep things light!
Soba noodles, or buckwheat noodles, are a great healthy alternative to traditional pasta. They’re made of whole grains and have more nutrients and less calories than pasta. I especially love them for warm or cold salads since they soak up a lot of flavor as well. And this salad is jam packed with flavor!
It all starts with the deliciously simple ginger ponzu dressing. Ponzu is a Japanese sauce with citrus and soy sauce and gives the dressing a sweet, tangy, and slightly salty flavor. Mixing that with sesame oil, rice vinegar and ginger rounds it all out and makes for an amazing vinaigrette.
The dressing is mixed with the cooked soba noodles and all the beautiful veggies – umami mushrooms, sweet bell peppers, buttery edamame and jalapenos for a spicy kick. I love using my ScanPan when I sauté veggies like this because it doesn’t need much oil and it cleans incredibly easily.
The last step is the delicious garlic lime shrimp. The shrimp gets a good coating of garlic powder and then gets cooked in butter for some richness. Finishing it with some lime juice enhances the citrus flavor from the dressing even more.
When you mix it all together, this dish has everything – spice, sweetness, tang, umami, aromatics, butteriness…and they all balance each other out so perfectly! While I love this combo, there are so many variations you can make. Leave out the shrimp for a vegetarian version. Skip or reduce the jalapenos if you’re not a spice fan. Mix up the vegetables based on what’s in season. The possibilities are endless!
A quick tip on cooking soba noodles: make sure to rinse the noodles in cold water when they’re done cooking. The noodles tend to build up starch while they cook and can stick together and become gummy unless the starch gets rinsed off.
Wine Pairings for Spicy Soba Noodle Salad with Shrimp
- Viognier: One of my favorite wines for spicy food, this rich and fruit-forward wine goes great with buttery seafood flavors and will also balance out the spice of the jalapenos.
- Gruner Veltliner: A light-bodied, fresh and dry white wine, Gruner Veltliner has citrus flavors that will amplify the ponzu based dressing of the dish.
Spicy Soba Noodle Salad with Shrimp
- Total Time: 30 minutes
- Yield: 4 people 1x
Description
A light and flavorful salad of soba noodles, vegetables, garlic lime shrimp, and a ginger ponzu dressing.
Ingredients
- ½ pound soba noodles
- ¼ cup + 1 tablespoon ponzu
- 1 tablespoon sesame oil
- 2 tablespoons rice vinegar
- 3 teaspoons ginger, minced
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- 1 cup shiitake mushrooms, sliced
- 1 red bell pepper and 1 orange bell pepper, chopped
- 2 jalapenos, seeds removed and finely chopped
- 1 cup fresh edamame beans
- 1.5 pounds fresh shrimp, peeled and deveined
- 2 tablespoons unsalted butter
- ½ teaspoon garlic powder
- 1 tablespoon fresh lime juice
- ¼ cup of toasted chopped almonds
- Salt and pepper to taste
Instructions
- Make the dressing: Add the ponzu, sesame oil, rice vinegar and ginger to a bowl and whisk to combine. Season with salt and pepper to taste. Set dressing aside.
- Prepare the noodles: Bring a large pot of water to a boil over high heat. Add noodles and boil until cooked through, about 4-5 minutes. Drain noodles in a colander and rinse them with cold water to keep them from sticking. Transfer noodles to a large serving bowl.
- Make the vegetables: Heat the olive oil over medium-high heat. Add the mushrooms, bell peppers and jalapenos to the pan. Season with salt and pepper. Sauté, stirring occasionally, until cooked through, about 8 minutes. Add vegetables to the bowl of noodles.
- Make the shrimp: Melt the butter in the same pan over medium-high heat. Season the shrimp with salt and pepper and sprinkle evenly with the garlic powder. Add shrimp to the pan and sauté until cooked through, about 2 minutes per side. Remove the pan from the heat and stir in the lime juice.
- Assemble: Add the edamame, shrimp and dressing to the noodle bowl and toss to combine. Serve with almonds on top.
- Prep Time: 10 minutes
- Cook Time: 20 minutes
Leave a Reply