berry love + a recipe for blueberry soba noodle salad
Guys, I don’t know if you know this, but it’s blueberry season. Has been for a while now. Okay, of course you know – if you’ve been in a grocery store or to a farmer’s market {and haven’t been living under a rock or in a cave}, it’s pretty clear to see.
There are blueberries everywhere. They’re ripe and they’re beautiful, and they’re best eaten by the handful {you get extra points if you can shove said handful into your mouth with any amount of grace}.
They’re such a versatile fruit; you can, like I said, eat them as is, but you can also add them to pretty much any baked good {if you follow me on Instagram, you know I love me some blueberry-based baking. Yum.}. A couple of weeks ago I had the pleasure of attending a cooking class put on by BC Blueberries at Calgary’s Cookbook Co., and I learned about a ton of different ways to use these tasty little berries. They’re delightful in burgers, you can make a hell of a barbecue sauce out of ‘em, and they taste lovely in lemonade {also cocktails, obviously}.
My favourite recipe of the day, however, was this Blueberry Soba Noodle Salad. It comes together in a pinch, is packed with all sorts of nutritious ingredients, and is the perfect dish to take along to an end-of-summer picnic {along with the aforementioned cocktails}. Take a look at the recipe, below, and give it a shot. Just a tip: it tastes even better with a good squeeze or two of Sriracha.
What’s your favourite way to use blueberries? Are you a “shove them in your face by the handful” kind of person, or do you opt to include them in different recipes?
Blueberry Soba Noodle Salad
Yields 6 cups
Recipe and photo courtesy of BC Blueberries
Ingredients:
VINAIGRETTE
3 tablespoons soy sauce
2 tablespoons fresh orange juice
2 tablespoons rice vinegar
1 tablespoon vegetable oil
1 teaspoon sesame oil
1 teaspoon honey
SALAD
4 cups soba/buckwheat noodles, cooked and cooled
1 cup B.C blueberries, fresh or frozen
3⁄4 cup extra firm tofu or cooked chicken, cubed
1⁄2 cup mandarin segments, chopped
1⁄2 cup snap peas, chopped
1⁄2 cup carrot, 1” long thin julienne
1⁄4 cup bell pepper, diced
2 tsp sesame seeds - optional
Instructions:
1. In a large bowl, whisk together all vinaigrette ingredients until combined.
2. Add all the prepared salad ingredients and toss with the vinaigrette.
3. Garnish with sesame seeds if desired.