Samurai Spaghetti Salad

Insalata di Spaghetti Integrale con Gamberi e Peperone

Buckwheat Noodle Salad with Peppers & Shrimp

Yes, this looks like a plate of spaghetti and that is what I called them in Italian... but in fact, these are Japanese buckwheat noodles- delicious, nutty-tasting and healthy! They are great for fixing quick meals, with their short cooking-time and easy preparation, they are just perfect for those sunny, Summer evenings...

I decided to keep this dish Asian in spirit, using soy, fish and oyster sauce with a little sesame oil and lime juice for the dressing, and came up with a Eurasian cross-over of sorts, combining parsley, basil and tomatoes with sesame oil peppers and ginger. A little unusual and a lot nicer than a mayonnaise coated pasta salad with chopped ham and peas! 

This is another easy one my friends! Do you have 10 minutes to spare by any chance? Oh you do! Great! The cool thing about this salad is that, as long as you are fine with a little multi-tasking and chopping, you can be ready to eat after 10 minutes prep work in all!

I started off by bringing the noodle water to the boil, adding the noodles and also a good handful of frozen shrimp. Once they were in the saucepan and gently simmering away. I quickly chopped up parsley, basil and Spring onion, along with a small, orange-colored bell pepper. After 3 or 4 minutes of cooking time, the noodles were done and ready to be drained. I poured off the excess water and added the other chopped ingredients, along with about 1" worth of grated ginger- this all went in with the still-warm noodles, was tossed together and then quickly before it cooled off completely.

I then added a few finely sliced cherry tomatoes, a squeeze of lime juice, a drizzle of sesame oil and oyster sauce and a sprinkle of toasted sesame seeds. The finishing touch was the sprinkle of chili flakes... and of course I already started tucking-into mine before it could cool off properly! Which tasted great, but I would probably have enjoyed it just as much, nicely cooled in the morning. I guess I will never know! Unless I make this again... and I think that scenario is quite likely to happen! Again and again!