Cabbage: Sesame Noodle Salad

Photo by Emily Mills

This dish is one of my favorite things to bring to potlucks because it can be served hot, cold, or room temperature. It's also vegan and not spicy so a large number of people can eat it. (You could even switch to rice noodles and tamari instead of soy sauce to make this gluten-free). The best thing about this type of dish is that you can make it in stages rather than trying to time out cooking a bunch of vegetables that take wildly different amounts of heat and caramelization. Just put on music or an episode of True Blood and don't stress out about doing too many things at one time.

Photo by Emily Mills

Salad:

1/2 red cabbage, cored and sliced

1 red pepper, seeded and chopped

1/2 yellow onion, chopped

3 carrots, julienned

10 shitake mushrooms, sliced

Frozen peas, approx 1/2 lb

Firm tofu, approx 16 oz, cut into 1/2" cubes

5 Tbsp sesame oil

3 Tbsp black sesame seeds

4 Tbsp soy sauce

1 tsp ground sea salt

4 packs instant ramen noodles

Vegetables do not need to be cooked in this order: Sautee red pepper in a large nonstick sautee pan with a few teaspoons of sesame oil over medium heat. Set aside when cooked but still crispy ("crisp-tender"). With a similar amount of oil, cook carrots until crisp-tender. Set aside. Cook onion in a few teaspoons of sesame oil until transparent and lightly caramelized. Cook shitake mushrooms until cooked through, adding a few teaspoons of soy sauce to reduce when they're almost done. Set aside. Add the cabbage to the pan with about a tablespoon of sesame oil. Sautee for about 5 minutes, stirring frequently, then add a few tablespoons of water and the frozen peas. Cover to finish cooking. Cabbage should still have some crunch and peas should be warm. Make sure all water is cooked off, then set aside.

Turn up pan to high and add one tablespoon of sesame oil. Add the tofu and fry until golden. In a pot, bring water to a boil and cook ramen according to the package directions. Drain and rinse with cold water to stop cooking.

Mix all cooked vegetables, tofu, ramen, sesame seeds, soy sauce, salt, and any remaining sesame oil in a large bowl. Eat right away or refrigerate. You can serve this with more soy sauce, more sesame seeds, sliced scallions, or hot chili sauce.