Sesame–Mixed Vegetable “Noodles” with Herbs

By jmartin

One night, our executive sous chef Anthony made an amuse-bouche out of a little bundle of thinly sliced vegetables tossed in a dressing and tied together with a chive. The flavor reminded me of creamy peanut butter noodles. It’s now a regular in our family meal rotation, and so yummy!
Mellow red miso has a deep, semisweet flavor, but you can use another variety of miso if you prefer. Most sliceable vegetables taste great with this dressing, so it’s really a matter of what looks good at the market or in your garden, what’s in season, or what you happen to have on hand. Substitute or add julienned yellow summer squash, jicama, cucumber, thinly sliced snow peas, or napa cabbage. If you like seaweed, add soaked, rinsed, and drained arame or hijiki. For sweetness add thinly sliced mango, or for richness sliced avocado. Basil or mint chiffonade, or both, are also nice additions.
In fact, you can prepare this with almost anything. If all you have is a pile of zucchini
and nothing else, that would be just fine, too. Multiply the dressing recipe to keep on hand
as a salad dressing or dipping sauce.

Ingredients

• Sesame Dressing
• 1 cup sesame tahini
• 1/4 cup sesame oil
• 1/4 cup freshly squeezed lemon juice
• 1/4 cup mellow red miso
• 3/4 cup plus 2 tablespoons filtered water
• 1/4 cup black sesame seeds
• Vegetables
• 4 cups daikon radish, julienned on a mandoline
• 2 red bell peppers, cored and julienned
• 3 medium zucchini, julienned on a mandoline
• 3 medium carrots, peeled and julienned on a mandoline
• 6 baby bok choy, leaves thinly sliced on a bias
• 3 scallions, whites and about 1 inch of green, thinly sliced
• 1 big handful cilantro leaves
• Sea salt

Details

Servings 8
Adapted from oneluckyduck.com

Preparation

Step 1

Sesame Dressing
In a large bowl, whisk together the tahini, sesame oil, lemon juice, miso, and 1/2 cup of the water. Add the remaining water a bit at a time and continue whisking until smooth.
Stir in the sesame seeds and set aside.

Vegetables
In a large bowl, toss all the prepared vegetables and the sesame dressing until evenly coated.
Season to taste with sea salt.