Soba Noodles with Salmon

A few weeks ago, I went over to a girlfriend's house for lunch who is also at home on leave with her sweet baby girl. She made this incredible salad with soba noodles, which I'd strangely never eaten before. So good!

Gorgeous wild-caught sock eye salmon was on sale at the grocery store, so that got added to my re-creation of her salad. If you use prepared smoked salmon, this would be a nearly no-cook meal since you just need to boil the noodles for 6 minutes or so!

Soba Noodles with Salmon

You will need:
3/4 lb salmon (or prepared smoked salmon - see above)
1 lb package soba noodles
1 cup arugula
1 diced avocado
1/2 English cucumber, sliced into half rounds
Scallions
1 tablespoon sesame oil
1 tablespoon rice vinegar
Juice of half a lime
Salt and pepper

Grill the salt and pepper covered salmon. Peter's been making little foil packets with water soaked wood chips to put at the back of the grill, and the grilled the fish at the front over indirect heat. Delicious! It does take about double the amount of time this way - our cooked for about 20 minutes with the cover on to trap the smoke from the chips.

Meanwhile, boil water for the noodles, and cook for 6-8 minutes. While the noodles cook, prep all your toppings. I also think slices of pepper, carrots, shredded cabbage, and cilantro would work beautifully in addition to or instead of arugula, avocado, and cucumbers.

Whisk the sesame oil, rice vinegar, lime juice, a bit more salt and pepper, and chopped scallions together for the dressing. Toss with the cooked noodles, and assemble the salad. This tastes great warm, at room-temperature, or cold, making it my new favorite summertime meal.