So-so-so-so(ba) satisfying!

Summer has been strange and slow to start, and my food swings have been utterly confused as a result. On hot days, I crave yogurt and berries for breakfast, leafy salads for lunch, and I much rather go out than cook dinner. On rainy days, I want nothing more than a big pot of coffee, NPR and a full day in the kitchen. But on a hot rainy day (the only kind of day we seem to have anymore), my stomach and heart can't seem to agree. Instinctively, I crave autumnal meals, but saucy pastas, risottos and stews are hardly appetizing when the humidity is nearly 70 percent. Likewise, the quinoa salads I rely on for quick, easy meals haven't satisfied nearly enough.

Inspiration truly does come from the most unlikely places, including mine, which came last week from a local Chinese food chain restaurant called Ollie's Noodle Shop, which has a location near the restaurant-starved Lincoln Center where I was headed for a movie. I can safely say I've never been to a place like Ollie's, which boasts a stellar take-out business, has two sizable floors of seating and offers hundreds of dishes (one source I found estimated 200). It's the kind of menu that quickly excites me by the number of possibilities, then paralyzes me for the same reason.

Now, I don't love Chinese food, but I do have a major weakness for a good garlicky black bean sauce. I ordered that with eggplant and brown rice, and it was really good. But the star of the meal, the thing I carried with me, was our cold noodle in sesame starter, a simple dish of chilled soba, julienned carrots and scallions, and a light sesame dressing. It was perfectly satisfying then, and it was fun to riff on for today's lunch (and maybe again for dinner -- it's that good!).

Soba noodles are fairly common and should be easy to find in the Asian section of your grocery (my local health food store stocks Eden Organic products in the macrobiotic section). You'll also need tahini, or sesame paste, but raw peanut butter would work, too. The remainder of the ingredients -- a hodgepodge of leftovers and greens from my weekly CSA share -- I had on hand; the pickled carrots were a gift and we have garlic scapes (not as intense as raw onion, sweeter than actual garlic) in abundance, thanks to that aforementioned CSA share. Like with most cooking I do, I like to use whatever is fresh (and preferably local) and whatever needs to be eaten (because I hate wasting good food).

Making this salad was easy and fun. The shaved celery offered a nice crunch before cleansing my palate for the double punch of garlic and sesame. The pickled carrots were also crunchy, but sweet versus earthy and a bit tangy, too. And the soba, cooked in six minutes and quickly chilled, was like a nice pasta, only lighter and seemingly weather appropriate. Looks like I finally found a compromise.

Chilled soba and vegetable salad with spicy sesame dressing
Inspired by Ollie's Noodle Shop

Ingredients

8 ounces soba, cooked and chilled
3 garlic scapes, julienned
2 stalks celery, shaved
1/4 cup pickled carrots, julienned
4 tablespoons tahini (or substitute)
2 tablespoons rice vinegar
2 teaspoons crushed red pepper flakes
Juice of one lemon
Salt, to taste (optional)
Toasted sesame seeds (optional)

Shave two stocks of celery (using a vegetable peeler, peel celery like a carrot) into a bowl filled with ice water. Refrigerate until celery curls and grows crispy (10 minutes).

Julienne remaining vegetables, set aside.

Whisk together tahini, vinegar, pepper and lemon. Salt to taste.*

In large bowl, mix noodles, julienned vegetables and dressing.

Upon serving, top with a small handful of chilled celery curls and toasted sesame seeds.

Serves 4.

* Note: For sweetness, feel free to add a little honey or soy sauce.