wasabi soba salad

Mirabella's Pantry is back! I finally joined a CSA here in NYC and just received our first delivery from Stoneledge Farm. I've decided to spend the summer finding and creating recipes that showcase each week's ingredients.

This week we received mizuna, a peppery spring green with a mild mustard flavor that's high in folic acid, iron, calcium, vitamins A and C, and antioxidants. The Japanese traditionally serve it pickled (which I've never tried), but it also tastes terrific raw or stir-fried.

The following is closely adapted from the Candle Café Cookbook and incorporates mizuna, carrots, arame (a sea vegetable similar to hijiki but more delicate and milder in flavor), soba, tofu, and spicy wasabi dressing. I built a strange little tower with the ingredients, beginning with the soba and followed by the arame, carrots, and finally the mizuna. I garnished the whole dish with finely diced radishes (which we also received in our CSA) and edamame beans for added flare.

Ingredients:

Tofu:
1/4 cup soy sauce
1/4 cup water
2 t sesame oil
2 t shredded ginger
2 garlic cloves, minced
2 T brown rice vinegar
2 T umeboshi vinegar
1 lb firm tofu (cut into 4 slices and then cut once more diagonally into triangles)

Arame:
1 cup arame
2 t brown rice vinegar
1/2 t rice vinegar
1/4 t toasted sesame oil
2 t agave nectar
2 cups mizuna
1 lb soba noodles, cooked and drained
1/2 cup finely shredded carrots

Wasabi Dressing:
3 T wasabi powder
1 cup water
1/2 cup sesame tahini
3 T brown rice vinegar
3 T soy sauce

Garnish:
2 radishes, fine julienned
1 radish, brunoised
handful of edamame beans

Method:

Whisk together all of the tofu ingredients except for the actual tofu. Place the tofu in a baking dish and cover with the mixture. Marinate for at least 3 hours and up to overnight.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Bake the tofu for 20 minutes on each side. Set aside to cool.

Soak the arame in 1 cup of boiling water for 5 minutes, until tender. In the meantime, whisk together the vinegar, mirin, sesame oil, and agave nectar. Drain and rinse the arame in cold water and toss with the marinade.

To make the wasabi dressing, dissolve the wasabi powder in the water. Place it in a blender with the rest of the ingredients and blend until incorporated. (The dressing will keep covered in the refrigerator for 2 weeks.)

To plate the salads, delicately place 1/4 of the soba on each plate and building vertically with the arame, carrots, and mizuna. Tilt 3 tofu triangles against each of the towers. Drizzle the wasabi dressing over each of them and arrange the julienned radishes on the top. Scatter a few edamame beans over each plate and spread the brunoised radishes over the edges of the plate as seen in the photograph above.

(serves 4)