Gluten-Free

Buckwheat Soba Noodles with Sesame-Lime Dressing

July 1, 2013

Buckwheat Soba Noodles with Sesame-Lime Dressing

It’s been more than a while since I’ve written in this space. So much time has passed that I’ve had something like nerves about putting pen to paper, as it were.

But here I am. And hopefully, there some of you are.

I’ve been incredibly excited about food and cooking over the past couple of months and I began brimming with excitement and inspiration about a return to blogging in this space again.

As you may well have noticed, Eating for England also has a rather wonderful fresh new look. I’m incredibly lucky to have had my good friend Holly working on this redesign. Holly and I have been friends for four years now and she knows me well enough to understand my style and aesthetic perfectly. Didn’t she do a beautiful job?! A new layout, logo, and lots of other design features – it’s all new and I feel doubly inspired to share in this space again after the wonderful work she’s done. Check out her blog to see how multitalented this lady is; I’m pretty amazed by all she does.

So, here we are and here is a new recipe for you.

Buckwheat Soba Noodles with Sesame-Lime Dressing

I recently discovered a lovely blog called Farmhouse Delivery, authored by the farm-to-table company of the same name based in Austin, TX. The blog is full of inspiration for making the most of a CSA box overflowing with a wealth of vegetables and features stunning step-by-step photos of most dishes too.

Farmhouse Delivery is where I first stumbled upon the idea for a buckwheat soba noodle salad and it seemed that from then on I kept seeing similar inspiration all over.

Buckwheat Soba Noodles with Sesame-Lime Dressing

The great thing about a dish like this is that you can really easily adapt it to suit whatever you have in your fridge. Snap peas were abundant when I made it and I happened to have some asparagus and green onions but you could easily go with green beans, if you have those around or maybe lima beans or edamame. Throw some cucumber in if you like – add lots of crunch.

The two things I love most about this dish are the gingery-sesame dressing with a real zing from the lime juice, and the crunch factor. Don’t miss out on that by eschewing peanuts and some crunchy vegetable, as both make it such a pleasure to eat. The added bonus to this dish is that it’s ready in the time it takes you to boil some noodles so weeknight staple, here you come.

Buckwheat Soba Noodles with Sesame-Lime Dressing

Ingredients

For the noodles

  • 8 ounce package buckwheat soba noodles
  • 6 ounces asparagus, chopped into 1 inch pieces, tough ends discarded
  • 4 ounces raw snap peas, sliced into halves
  • 1-2 green onions, thinly sliced
  • small handful cilantro leaves
  • small handful roasted peanuts, coarsely chopped
  • sesame seeds, to garnish

For the dressing

  • Freshly squeezed lime juice from 2-3 limes (you want about 5-6 tablespoons)
  • 1 tsp fresh ginger, grated
  • 1 small clove garlic, minced
  • 1 tbsp sugar
  • 2 tbsp tamari sauce
  • 3 tbsp toasted sesame oil
  • Salt

Directions

  1. Cook the noodles to al dente per package instructions. Drain, rinse in cool water, and set aside.
  2. Meanwhile, bring a pot of lightly salted water to a boil. Prepare an ice-water bath. Place asparagus in boiling water and cook until tender, about 3 minutes. Drain and immediately transfer asparagus to ice-water bath until cool; drain and set aside.
  3. Make dressing: Place lime juice, ginger, garlic, sugar, and tamari in a large bowl. Whisk in sesame oil until well blended. Taste and season with salt.
  4. Add noodles and other salad ingredients to the dressing, toss well, garnish with cilantro, peanuts, and sesame seeds, and serve. Serves four.

Roasted Spaghetti Squash with Sausage

November 12, 2012

rsz_squash-and-sausage

This dish is a weeknight dream. Cut a spaghetti squash in half and whack it in the oven. Scrape out it’s crazy spaghetti-like strands. Saute some sausage. Throw the lot together with a huge handful of freshly grated Parmesan and some herbs. Boom.

Certainly I encourage noone to think of spaghetti squash as a substitute for pasta – you’ll only find it disappointing if you do – rather, enjoy it for what it is and enjoy the fact that it’s more compatible with things like sausage and tomato sauce than any of its squash cousins.

And please forgive the propensity of weeknight iPhone pictures of late – I’d rather share a good recipe with you than not, just because the photos aren’t up to scratch. I hope you agree!

Roasted Spaghetti Squash with Sausage
from White on Rice Couple

Ingredients

  • 1 spaghetti squash (3lbs or 1365g)
  • 2 tbsp/ 30ml olive oil
  • 5 or 6 medium shallots, thickly sliced
  • 3 cloves garlic, minced
  • 3/4 lb/ 340g uncooked sausage (I used mild Italian sausage but any kind would work! If it’s in casing, be sure to remove it and separate into small balls before cooking.)
  • 1 cup/ 60g coarsely grated Parmesan
  • 1 tbsp finely chopped oregano
  • Coarse salt and fresh cracked pepper, to taste

Directions

  1. Preheat oven to 375F/190C. Grease a baking sheet with one tbsp olive oil.
  2. Slice spaghetti squash in half lengthwise. Scoop out the seeds and strands, then place cut side down on the prepared sheet pan.
  3. Bake for 45 minutes, or until the squash flesh separates easily into strands with a fork. Remove from the oven and finish loosening and removing the “spaghetti” from the squash shells and set aside.
  4. Heat a large pan over medium heat. Heat remaining olive oil in pan, then add shallots and garlic. Cook until soft, stirring every 30 seconds, then add sausage. Cook without stirring until the bottom side of the sausage starts to brown, then stir. Continue cooking and stirring occasionally until the sausage is cooked through, 2-3 minutes.
  5. Add spaghetti squash strands to the sausage and continue cooking until heated, less than a minute.
  6. Remove from heat. Toss in Parmesan and oregano. Season with sea salt and fresh cracked pepper. Serves 3-4.

Spiced Ginger Cake

October 17, 2012

Downton Abbey marathons | Chilly-sunny walks | New desk chair | Red leaves | Yellow leaves | Really dark chocolate | Amazing books | Spiced ginger cake.

All good things which have been happening in these parts recently. (Pretty wild, aren’t I?)

This cake was my first foray into baking with almond flour and I have to say, I might be smitten.

The result is a more dense cake which means a little slice goes a long way. It’s super filling and when you think about the natural fat and caloric values of almonds compared to flour that makes sense but don’t be put off by that – it’s good, cholesterol-reducing fat, as opposed to the empty calories of white flour.

The hint of almond flavour goes wonderfully with all the warm spices in this cake: nutmeg, cinnamon, allspice, and of course ginger. I can think of no better way to spend a blustery weekend afternoon than baking {and eating} it. Enjoy!

Spiced Ginger Cake
adapted from Roost

Ingredients

  • 2 1/2 cups almond flour
  • 1/2 tsp salt
  • 1/2 tsp baking soda
  • 1 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
  • 1 1/2 tsp ground nutmeg
  • 1 1/2 tsp ground allspice
  • 4 tsp ground ginger
  • 3 eggs
  • 1/2 cup maple syrup
  • 1/2 cup butter, melted

Directions

  1. Preheat oven to 350F. Combine dry ingredients in a bowl and lightly whisk together. Combine wet ingredients in a separate bowl. Using a rubber spatula mix wet and dry ingredients until combined.
  2. Pour into a greased 9×5″ loaf pan and bake for 45 minutes to 1 hour or until a toothpick inserted into the centre comes out clean. If the top begins to get too brown lay a sheet of foil on top to prevent burning (I did this at about 30 mins in). Allow to cool for a whole hour before removing from the pan.

  « OLDER  

  NEWER »