Soba noodles and roasted eggplant in miso dressing

When it starts to warm up, I find myself craving some soba noodles.  Alright...who am I kidding?  I crave all kinds of foods that I like to eat in one big constant loop!  I'm not the only one who's always thinking about food and, therefore, craving something all the time, right?

In the old days, it was rice noodles for me.  Nowadays, I enjoy more variety and there's usually a pack of dry soba noodles hanging out in the pantry.  I always feel the need to have my favorite things on hand, like there might be some worldwide shortage the minute I need it, and I just won't be able to find it anywhere!

Anyway...when I think soba noodles, I automatically think asian flavors - soy, rice vinegar, sesame oil and seeds.  To satisfy this particular round of soba noodle craving, I decided to make use of the miso I had in the fridge.

When I saw some good-looking eggplant at the market, I thought of that great America's Test Kitchen technique I learned and have been relying on to roast eggplant with soy sauce.  The idea came together.  I'd roast some eggplant with soy sauce, cook some soba noodles, and toss it altogether with a simple miso-based dressing.

And that's just what I did to satisfy my soba noodle craving.  The eggplant makes the dish satisfying, with its meatiness and that umami flavor.  I'd thought about adding some shiitake mushrooms but skipped it since I didn't feel like dirtying another pan and having to cook the mushrooms separately.  I thought I'd miss it but I really didn't; the eggplant alone adds plenty of flavor and substance.  The miso dressing/sauce is just one where I whisked some miso with a little warm water.  I added some soy sauce, rice vinegar, sesame oil and it's just a simple, light, and a relatively mild coating of sauce for the soba.

Roasting eggplant...with soy sauce

I recently discovered something so utterly simple yet just a little bit genius.  I had to share it.

Eggplant, oven-roasted with oil and soy sauce in place of salt

The subject is eggplant.  As a kid, I was not a fan of eggplant.  I always thought cooked eggplant was rather slimy and just generally questionable.  It's always been one of my mother's favorite vegetables and growing up, it would show up on our dinner table stuffed with fish paste and pan-fried (like this); she would order the same thing at dim sum restaurants.  I always passed on it and went for the straight-up filling instead that she would likewise pan-fry.

Now, you know how the story goes.  I grew up, I got more open-minded and I now enjoy eggplant almost as much as my mother (okay, maybe not quite).  But the one thing I still dislike about eggplant is how much oil it absorbs.  I figured roasting was the best answer and in a quest to eat more eggplant, I stumbled upon a recipe from this America's Test Kitchen magazine for "soba noodles with roasted eggplant". It was the way the eggplant was roasted in this recipe that intrigued me.  It's quite simple: you roast cubed eggplant with some oil and instead sprinkling some salt over them as you would naturally think to do, use soy sauce instead!

Soy sauce adds a jolt of flavor and increases the meatiness of the eggplants

And here's what happens - the eggplant soaks up that soy sauce, which gives it such a great boost of flavor (you can really taste it).  The meatiness of the eggplant works so well with the almost-beefy flavor of the soy sauce itself.  It makes me think I really don't need meat in my life.  It is totally delicious!  I've made a few batches already in the last few weeks and my husband and I are loving it.  It's so good as a side dish; we have it alongside stir-fries and noodles or rice, and it'd clearly be good with soba as the original recipe outlined.    

This is so simple but such a neat little trick for anyone who likes eggplant and is looking for an easy way to prepare it.