Tuesday, September 2, 2008

Upcoming Cooking Demonstration

If you know me, then you know I'm a big fan of PCC Natural Market.  In my opinion, it's the absolute only place to get your comestibles (besides the farmer’s market, of course.)  What did I ever do without this sustainability-supporting, local produce-carrying, high fructose corn syrup-eschewing playland of yummy food?  I teach cooking classes there, do all our weekly grocery shopping there, and Mark’s life is infinitely richer now that he’s discovered the feeding trough, (ahem) bulk bin full of chocolate peanut butter malted milk balls.  So when they call and ask if I can help out by doing a cooking demonstration at their Healthy Living Fair, my reply is a happy “yes.”  I’ll be at the Issaquah PCC on Sunday, September 14th from 10am – 1pm demonstrating how to make soba noodles with broccoli and spicy Thai peanut sauce.  So drop on by and check out the fair, there will be lots of vendors giving out samples, local farmers selling produce, and many other cooking demonstrations.  If you can’t make it to the fair, I won’t make you suffer by withholding the recipe, my friends.  It’s simple and a standby for any day of the week.  Just add seared tofu or chickpeas and you have an instant dinner.

Soba Noodles with Broccoli and Thai Peanut Sauce

Modified from a recipe from Cafe Flora Cookbook 2005

Serves 4

8 ounces dried soba noodles

1 teaspoon sesame oil

2 cups broccoli florets

1 tablespoon chopped garlic (about 3 cloves)

2 teaspoons honey

2 tablespoons sesame oil

1 tablespoon peeled minced ginger

½ teaspoon red pepper flake (or more if you like it spicy)

¼ cup tamari or shoyu

2 tablespoons rice vinegar

½ cup peanut butter

¼ cup sesame tahini

2 tablespoons water

To make the Thai peanut sauce, place all but the first three ingredients in a food processor and blend until smooth.  If the sauce is thicker than you’d like, add a bit more water to liquefy.  Set sauce aside.  To make soba, bring 3 quarts of water to boil in a large pot and add noodles.  When noodles are almost to the right tenderness, add the broccoli to the boiling water and continue to cook 2 minutes more.  Drain noodles and broccoli and toss with the sesame oil while still hot.  Transfer to serving dish and toss with the peanut sauce and serve.  This dish also works well as a cold salad for summertime. 

1 comment:

Regina said...

Hey, I make a similar (simpler) dish with peas and/or broccoli! I stole the recipe from Sahara Mart but yours sounds better.