Heart Eyes, Vol. 92: More Vacation and Soba with Crispy Kale
Hello! Happy Friday! Happy weekend! Happy Thanksgiving to our Canadian friends! (Please note the seasonal envy of 300 million of your southern neighbors.) I’m off on vacation again—yes, I planned two ten-day vacations a month apart—and will be missing a couple of Fridays as I head east to see friends and try some sweater weather on for size. But I leave you with all my good wishes and with a truly stellar noodle dish, which I expect will hold you all over until I get back. See you in November!
What To Cook: Soba Noodles with Crispy Kale
I made something this week that I’ve been obsessing about making again even as I’ve been eating it for lunch every day. How’s that for a scarcity mentality? This Soba Noodles with Crispy Kale recipe comes via Bon Appetit from longtime whole-foods blogger Heidi Swanson, and it’s delicious—it’s got buckwheat soba, kale and coconut chips briefly roasted with olive oil and nutritional yeast, and a savory-sweet tahini-soy-honey dressing, like peanut sauce’s lighter cousin. It’s nutty and satisfying and great for fall; I think the nutritional yeast really makes it, lending a savory baseline to the crispy kale and coconut. Next time, I might experiment with roasting some tofu along with the kale and coconut—it seems like a natural addition if you’re hoping to add more protein. It’s pretty perfect the way it is, though, and wonderfully weeknight-friendly, since you can cook the noodles and mix up the sauce in the 15 minutes or so the kale takes to roast (mine took even less time, but my oven is…enthusiastic, let’s say).
If you’re not familiar with nutritional yeast—I’d eaten it before but had never cooked with it myself—it is, in fact, deactivated bread yeast, but it’s also a seasoning used to add a savory, cheesy flavor to vegan dishes. (If you’ve never had it on popcorn, you’re missing out, and also probably not going to enough hipster movie theaters.) You can find it in the bulk or health-foods section of many grocery stores, or at health-foods stores, or online. It’s tasty stuff, and this recipe has me motivated to try keeping some on hand. With this around, it won’t last long.