Coconut Soba Noodles with Ginger Veggies

This Coconut Soba Noodles with Ginger Kale recipe from Vegetarian Times (Sept. 2013) pretty much had everything I love. Coconut milk? Check. Cilantro? Check. Soba noodles, lime, jalapeno, ginger? Check. I also liked it because it wasn't a curry - which is pretty much the only thing I make with coconut milk. I am also the proud owner of a (mini) food processor, so I can now make sauces that involve pureeing things! Fabulous.

The sauce base is a green paste made up of pureeing the following ingredients: 1 cup cilantro, 6 chopped garlic cloves, 1 chopped jalapeno, 1 Tbsp freshly grated ginger, 1 tsp turmeric (I used curry powder) and 1 tsp oil. So easy - I have to make more recipes like this! Heat a small pot on the stove. Add the paste and saute for 30 seconds, then whisk in 1 can coconut milk and 1/2 cup water. Simmer 15 minutes without boiling. Then stir in 2 Tbsp lime juice and some salt and pepper.

Heat a large pan on the stove. Add 1/4 cup thinly sliced fresh ginger and 3 smashed garlic cloves, cook 1 minute. I added a handful of baby greens and one sliced red pepper (in place of the kale) with a dash of soy sauce and a dash of water. Cook until ready to eat! Meanwhile, cook 6 oz soba noodles. I found it easiest just to mix everything together in the pan by adding the noodles and sauce in with the kale. Remove the smashed garlic cloves first, though. Next time I'll probably just mince them up and throw them in - I like garlic!

Top with more cilantro and peanuts (or other roasted nuts) and voila - a giant bowl of thai comfort food. As the photo shows it was quite liquidy, since the coconut milk is really only heated through. It was more like a thai noodle soup. It was a little on the spicy side so if you're a wimp, only use 1/2 of the jalapeno. I would also throw in some tofu or something since it didn't have any protein. I still ate a very large amount of it though - slurping contentedly in front of the TV.