Veggie and Greens Scrap Salad for Lunch

In an attempt to use as much of the plant as possible, I saved the stems off some broccoli a while ago (more than a week, I think) and the stems from the spinach yesterday and today. They're shown in the picture. Today I made them into a salad for lunch. I made up my own recipe, inspired by something I saw done with broccoli and cauliflower scraps on Just Bento (http://feeds.feedburner.com/justbento) a while ago.

Note: You can basically use any stems, greens, or non-starch root vegetables. Veggie examples include juliennes of peeled stems from broccoli and cauliflower, carrots, turnips, radishes, etc. Greens examples include stems from any greens, beet tops, celery tops, radish tops, etc.

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This was my first time cooking with coconut oil, and it made a noticeable difference in the flavor. If you have no access to coconut oil, sesame oil would be fine, but the taste would not be as complex. Also, you may have to watch the pan a little more closely because sesame oil usually smokes at a lower temperature. I served this over soba noodles (cold) but it would easily stand alone or you could serve it over rice.

The recipe reflects what I used today. This picture shows the ribs and broccoli after I'd chopped them up. Any kind of green ribs - from kale, collards, chard, etc. would stand in for the spinach, needing more or less cooking depending on the thickness. You could use carrots or cauliflower stems in place of the broccoli.

Scrap Veggies and Sesame Salad with Soba Noodles

Serves 2

Stem from a bunch of broccoli
Stems from a bundle of mature spinach
1T coconut oil
1T raw unhulled sesame seeds
1T strong (kikkoman-type) soy sauce

130 g (1 bundle) soba noodles
4t soba sauce

Cut the root-side ends off the spinach stems and cut into 2" - 3" lengths. Cut off the very bottom of the broccoli stem, peel any tough skin, and cut into large-ish matchsticks. The size of the matchstick isn't that important, but the thickness of the slices shouldn't be more than 1/8" or so.

In a large, heavy fry pan heat the coconut oil over medium-high heat until fragrant. Add the broccoli and stir-fry about 2 min. Add the sesame and stir-fry 1 more minute. Add the spinach stems and soy and stir-fry until the spinach stems are cooked through but not limp, about 2 min m0re.

Remove from pan immediately, as you want it to cool quickly so the spinach does not go limp. Once they are cool enough, put them in the fridge to chill. You can make this as much as a day or two ahead. It will keep, covered, in the fridge.

When ready to serve, cook the soba following the directions given. Rinse it in a colander under cold water as soon as it is done. Divide soba between 2 shallow bowls. Drizzle 2t soba sauce over each portion of noodles. Spoon half the salad on top of each noodle pile. Serve cold.

Note that the picture is somewhat misleading. Because of my gluten intolerance I had a short share of the noodles; Phil was hungry so he happily had the rest. The picture is of his plate and shows probably 3/4 of the noodles and not half. The salad part was divided equally, though.