Japanese Noodle Salad with Ginger-Soy Vinaigrette

This is a light and refreshing salad with beautiful colour. Be warned that the recipe below makes a huge amount of salad. For the amount of bok choy, I also thought it could use one more red bell pepper. The original recipe also calls for one stalk of celery thinly sliced. I omitted this and didn't miss anything, so I'm omitting it below as well.

One year ago: Blueberry Rhubarb Deep Dish Pie
Two years ago: Penang-Style Stir-Fried Kuey Teow Noodles

Japanese Noodle Salad with Ginger-Soy Vinaigrette (from Raising the Salad Bar)

Ingredients
225g dried udon noodles
1 tbsp toasted sesame oil
4 stalks bok choy (with green tops), cut in half lengthwise and thinly sliced
1 carrot, cut into matchsticks
1 red bell pepper, cored and julienned
4 scallion greens, thinly sliced
2 tbsp toasted sesame seeds
Ginger-soy vinaigrette
2 tbsp soy sauce
1 tbsp lemon juice
2 tsp grated fresh ginger
2 tbsp canola or peanut oil
1 tbsp toasted sesame oil

1. Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil. Break udon noodles in half and cook according to package directions. Drain and toss with sesame oil.
2. Once cool, toss noodles in large bowl with vegetables.
3. To make dressing, whisk together ingredients.
4. Toss salad with dressing and garnish with sesame seeds.

Edamame, Shrimp and Snow Pea Pasta Salad

Summer in Montreal this year has been amazing. Warm and lovely with very few days of rain. Of course, that means the last thing I want to do at night when I'm struggling to keep my apartment at 80F (on the cool end!) is turn on the oven. Hence, you'll see quite a few salad-based meals.

This dish is a bit different. The wasabi in the dressing gives it a bit of something special without being overpowering. I thought it needed something a bit extra and had some fresh basil and mint on hand, so I added those and took the dish a bit more in a Thai direction. I also think the peanuts in the dish would go better chopped, so I'm going to suggest that you do that!

One year ago: Pork in Adobo Sauce
Two years ago: Pasta with Roasted Red Pepper and Basil

Edamame, Shrimp and Snow Pea Pasta Salad (from Raising the Salad Bar)

Ingredients
225g dried udon noodles
1 tbsp toasted sesame oil
1 cup edamame beans (soy beans), fresh or frozen
1 cup snow peas, strings removed
olive oil
450g small to medium shrimp, peeled and deveined
salt and pepper
1 large garlic clove, finely minced
1 red bell pepper, cored and cut into thin strips
1/4 cup thinly sliced scallion greens
1/2 cup unsalted, dry roasted peanuts, chopped
2 tbsp chopped basil (optional)
2 tbsp chopped mint (optional)
Wasabi-soy vinaigrette
4 tsp wasabi powder
2 tsp water
1/4 cup fresh lemon juice
2 tbsp soy sauce
5 tbsp canola or grapeseed oil

1. Break udon noodles in half and cook in boiling salted water according to package directions. Drain, drizzle with sesame oil, and let cool.
2. Bring a small pot of water to a boil and add edamame beans. Cook 3 minutes, add snow peas, and cook 1 minute more. Drain and run under cold water.
3. Heat large saute pan over medium-high heat. Coat with olive oil, add shrimp, and saute. Season with salt and pepper and after 3 minutes, add minced garlic. Cook until pink, turning once.
4. In large serving bowl, combine shrimp, noodles, snow peas, edamame, red pepper, and scallions.
5. To make dressing, in a small bowl, mix wasabi powder with water. Stir and then add lemon juice, soy sauce, and oil.
6. Dress salad and toss to combine. Garnish with peanuts and herbs.