Raw Vegetable Sesame Noodles

Jul 23

2009

When I was a kid, I absolutely loved Chinese Sesame Noodles. I haven’t had them in quite some time (they are not very good for you!), so when I saw this recipe for a raw vegan version, I was really excited!

sesamenoodles

I’m pretty sure that if you are a raw foodie, if you stay away from wheat or gluten, if you like to eat a lower carb diet, or if you’re just looking to add to your repertoire of recipes for healthy food, you’re going to love this raw foods sesame noodles alternative. The recipe comes from this month’s featured book: Living Raw Food by Sarma Melngailis.

Before I go on, let me remind you that I’m raffling off a signed copy of the book. All you have to do to enter is mention the giveaway on your blog (if you have one), or post about it on facebook or twitter, or submit the blog or my site’s homepage to stumbleupon, digg, or another social networking site (this is so easy to do- there are links at the bottom of each post/page to help). Another way to enter is to share a healthy recipe with readers of my website.

Remember to come back and leave a comment on the blog letting me know about your entry so I’ll have your email address and can notify you if you win! Entries must be received by midnight of July 31st, 2009.

For this recipe, Sarma states in the book that “most sliceable vegetables taste great with the dressing…substitute or add julienned yellow summer squash, jicama, cucumber, thinly sliced snow peas, or napa cabbage. If you like seaweed, add soaked, rinsed, and drained arame or hijiki. For sweetness, add thinly sliced mango, or for richness, sliced avocado. Basil or mint chiffonade, or both, are also nice additions.” She also says you can just use zucchini (which is what I did, along with cilantro, green onions, and a little shredded kale).

A note about the recipe: many of the veggies here are supposed to be prepared with a very sharp cutting tool called a mandoline. I do have one, but I couldn’t find it when I went to make the recipe! So I used a spiral slicer to make the zucchini pasta instead (see photo below). I highly recommend the spiralizer- it is super easy, very safe, and allows you to easily make veggies like zucchini into “spaghetti”- how cool is that!

zucchininoodles

Sesame-Mixed Vegetable “Noodles” with Herbs
from Living Raw Food by Sarma Melngailis

Sesame Dressing
1 cup sesame tahini
1/4 cup sesame oil
1/4 cup freshly squeezed lemon juice
1/4 cup mellow red miso
3/4 cup plus 2 Tb. filtered water
1/4 cup black sesame seeds

In a large bowl, whisk together the tahini, sesame oil, lemon juice, miso, and 1/4 cup of the water.

Add the remaining ingredients a bit at a time and continue whisking until smooth. Stir in the sesame seeds and set aside.

Vegetables
4 cups daikon radish, julienned on a mandoline
2 red bed peppers, cored and julienned
3 medium zucchini, julienned on a mandoline
3 medium carrots, cored and julienned on a mandoline
6 baby bok choy, leaves thinly sliced on a bias
3 scallions, whites and about an inch of the green, thinly sliced
1 big handful cilantro leaves
Sea salt

In a large bowl, toss all prepared vegetables and the sesame dressing until evenly coated. Season to taste with sea salt. Serves 8-10.

p.s. Thanks again to Sarma Melngailis for generously donating a signed copy of the book for the giveaway, and for letting me use the gorgeous picture at the top of this post!

July 23, 2009