Simple Udon Soup

This is super fast and easy, and is a perfect snack or small meal. I love the broth; there's something really comforting to me about it. Udon is made from buck wheat, so the noodles are actually pretty healthy.

Ingredients (makes 2)
-12 oz udon
~2 T soy (1 T per bowl)
~2 T mirin (1 T per bowl)
~4 cups reserved cooking liquid (2 cups per bowl)
-4 green onions, diced
-2 T basil, chopped
-1 block tofu, cubed (optional)

Steps
1. Cook noodles as directed. If you are adding tofu, add the tofu to the water once it starts to boil so that the tofu heats up as well. Once noodles are done, remove them from pot but reserve most of the cooking liquid.
2. Split the noodles between two bowls.
3. Add a couple cups of the water you cooked the noodles in to each bowl.
4. Stir in soy, mirin, green onion, and basil.

Happy Homemade Gazpacho

This recipe is SO easy, and the end result is SO tasty. To me, gazpacho is the perfect summer soup. I have a huge blender, so I could fit all the ingredients at once...I think if you're using a regular sized blender you'd need to half the ingredients or do it in two batches.

Ingredients:
-3 medium tomatoes, quartered
-1 small cucumber, cut into chunks
-1 green bell pepper, seeds removed and cut into strips
-1 small onion, cut into sixths
-3 cups tomato juice (I used spicy V8)
-salt and pepper to taste

Steps:
1. Combine the above ingredients in a blender, and mix to your desired consistency. Serve chilled. (See, it is really easy!)

Mini Polenta Pizzas

I came up with idea for these guys when we had some friends over for a movie and I needed to come up with a quick, easy appetizer. These were both quick and easy, and they were also very yummy.

Ingredients
-1 tube of polenta
~5 oz fresh mozzarella
~7 oz of pizza sauce
-chiffonade a handful of fresh basil
-2 T EVOO

Steps:
(Turn your broiler on)
1. Cut the polenta into 1/4 inch thick rounds, and place on a baking sheet covered with tin foil. Lightly baste the slices with EVOO and broil for about 4 minutes. (Basically, the point of this step is just to heat your polenta slices through, so the EVOO is probably not necessary.

2. Top each slice with a small spoonful of pizza sauce and a slice of mozzarella. Broil until cheese is brown and melty.

 3. Top with basil.

Lemon Basil Egg Salad

Much to my fiance's chagrin, every now and then I make egg salad (he thinks it's gross and smelly...I think it's comforting and yummy). This weekend I got a craving for it, and was pleased to see that we already had all the ingredients to make it on-hand--except dill. So I looked around and decided I would try subbing basil, seeing as my basil plants could use some trimming. I also added some lemon juice, onion, pickles, mustard, and crumbled bacon, and I have been happily munching on the super tasty end result for the past few days. See below for more detailed recipe.

Ingredients
-5 hard boiled eggs
-3-4 T red onion, finely diced
-4 pieces cooked turkey bacon, crumbled
-2 T mustard
-3-4 T pickles (I highly recommend the bread and butter kind)
-2 T fresh basil
-1.5 T lemon juice
-salt and pepper to taste

Steps
1. Hard boil your eggs. I assume there are many ways, but I usually add my eggs to a pot of water, bring the water to a boil, then I turn off the heat, cover the eggs, and let them sit in the water for about 20 minutes. Then, I rinse them under cold water until they are cool enough to handle.
2. Dice your eggs and place in a medium sized bowl.

3. Chop up your pickles, onion, basil, and bacon and add to bowl.

4. Stir in mustard, lemon juice, salt, and pepper.
5. Serve on toasted bread with some lettuce.

Cold Soba Salad

I'm just going to say: this recipe qualifies as a blog win! Super easy, incredibly flavorful, and very healthy. Perfect summer recipe.

Ingredients:
-12 oz soba noodles
-1 ripe mango, cut into pieces
-1 red pepper, cut into pieces
-1 block of tofu, drained well and cut into pieces
~6 oz frozen edamame
Dressing
-3/4 C rice wine vinegar
-1/4 C brown sugar
-3/4 tsp salt
-3 large garlic cloves, minced (definitely use fresh garlic, not bottled for this)
-1 heaping T of diced jalepeños
-zest of one lime
-juice of one lime
-1 T sesame oil (I subbed EVOO)
Optional toppings
-fresh mint
-fresh basil
-peanuts

Steps:
1. Chop up your veggies. Thaw edamame by placing it in a bowl, covering with water, and microwaving for about 4 minutes. Drain edamame.

2. Cook soba al dente (probably about 6 minutes, but check package instructions). Once cooked, rinse very well in cold water.

3. While soba is cooking, begin making your dressing by heating the rice wine vinegar, salt, and sugar in a small saucepan until the salt and sugar dissolve. Once the salt and sugar have dissolved, remove the pan from heat, and stir in the garlic and jalepeños.
4. Let the sauce cool a bit, then add in lime zest, lime juice, and oil. Stir well.

5. Add mango, pepper, edamame, and tofu to your noodles. Pour on dressing and toss well.
6. Let sit in the refrigerator until completely cooled, serve with your garnishes of choice.