Tuesday, March 31, 2015

Rice Noodles with Green Onions and Edamame

What happens when one of my most favorite cookbooks is given a part two to accompany it? I go through many, many Post-it flags marking pages. I’ve been reading and marking pages in Plenty More and looking forward to various vegetables coming into season. I can’t wait for summer to try Dakos made with ripe tomatoes, Corn Slaw, and Eggplant with Black Garlic. After my first glance at this new book, I was worried that this was just the collection of dishes that weren’t quite good enough for the original Plenty. And, I still don’t think that first book can be surpassed, but the more time I spend with Plenty More the more I find to love about it. The Urad Dal with freshly grated coconut, the Polenta Chips with Avocado and Yogurt dipping sauce, and the Taleggio and Spinach Roulade are all competing for the top spot on my list of what to make next. Every dish combines flavors, textures, and colors that are hard to resist. For spring, the Fava Bean Spread with Roasted Garlic Ricotta; the Sprout Salad Part Two with radishes, kohlrabi, carrot, and avocados; and the Rice Noodles with Green Onions and Edamame are bursting with bright, fresh tastes. I can never turn away from a noodle salad especially one that’s this easy to make. 

I learned a trick from Dorie Greenspan for cooking rice noodles in advance and letting them stand until time to serve. You just rinse and drain them after cooking and then toss them with a little oil to prevent sticking. That same technique is employed here. The cooked, rinsed, drained, and oil-tossed noodles are set aside and covered to keep them warm. Next, sliced green onions and serranos were stir fried in a wok, and blanched, frozen edamame were added. The noodles were added to the wok along with sesame oil, black and white sesame seeds, rice vinegar, and chopped cilantro. The dish was served garnished with lime zest and more sesame seeds with lime wedges on the side. 

This was intended to be served warm from the wok which I did, but the cold leftovers from the refrigerator the next day were delicious too. The lime and chiles work their way through the few other ingredients to brighten the whole dish. This book is going on the shelf next its older sibling for now, but neither of them will be left sitting for long. 

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19 comments:

  1. Delightfully springlike! This is a fabulous dish.

    Cheers,

    Rosa

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  2. I'm onto that trick with the rice noodles. Usually, we have Thai when we eat rice noodles so I sprinkle mine with a little sesame oil. I do love the look of this brilliantly green dish xx

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  3. Light and very delicious..a great spring dish!

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  4. Yes. Just yes -- this looks perfect for spring. Inspired dish -- thanks.

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  5. This is such a beautiful dish Lisa...I love everything in this rice noodle...the lime, the heat...yum!
    Hope you are having a great week :)

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  6. What a beautifully verdant dish Lisa! And great tip about the rice noodles too-thank you for sharing that! :D

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  7. this looks extremely nutritious, and lorraine took the adjective verdant right out of my mouth! very nice indeed.

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  8. Such a beautiful dish! It screams spring. It's funny, I can't eat edamame - it gives me migraines. So strange.

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  9. What a lovely and vibrant looking dish this is! I love all the green color especially now that spring is here.

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  10. feeling healthier just by reading this post...
    looks delicious!!!
    Dedy@Dentist Chef

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  11. Looks great but I don't see the actual recipe. Am I missing something??

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    Replies
    1. Erica, I don't reprint recipes from books without the publisher's permission.

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  12. What a coincidence, I just saw that exact same tip for cooking rice noodles in the PBS' American Test Kitchen, which I just started taping and following. Very good show, although Kimball can be a bit hard to take sometimes. I am getting used to him, though, and the show is totally worth it.

    Love Plenty More, I agree with you that probably Plenty is better, but heck, it's like when you get a Nobel Prize, you can only go downhill from there... ;-)

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  13. Hi Lisa, oh how I love Plenty More, have not tried that recipe yet, your presentation looks amazing.

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  14. That dish looks so good anyone would want to eat it and then ask for seconds.

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  15. Always pleased to read I'm not the only one with post-it notes hanging out of all my cookbooks! Is there enough time to get to them all? Have not yet perused Plenty More...but am posting a salad from another Ottolenghi cookbook next. Love all those recipes. The bright green next to the pale noodles is so striking and that last photo is divine. Making my mouth water!

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  16. It all sounds wonderful! Polenta chips? I must try! I'm going to zip through many of your posts as I am far behind in my visits. Always good to read you.

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  17. Oh, my! What a beautiful, farm-fresh plate of pasta. I love it, Lisa.

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