soba noodle salad with passion fruit vinaigrette

My brother and sister-in-law lived in Maui for some time. Why they left I’ll never understand. The were kind enough to invite me to visit. MaryLou is a foodie like me. The place is fresh food heaven. Pineapple groves, passion fruit  and bananas growing in their yard, we took a drive along the Hana highway and we were running over fresh avocados! 

Some of the best restaurants I have had the pleasure to dine at were on this island. Mamas fish house is a must. My second favorite was Haliimaile restaurant. Lou gave me their cookbook which if you saw it now you would see it is well loved. This salad is from this cookbook....made like a lasagna... in layers. So a clear bowl is required for its visual appeal. And yes just like lasagna there are steps.  I made some adjustments with the recipe to suit our taste. Trust me it’s worth the effort!

This one is for you Kirsten ❤️

Ingredients :

Passion fruit purée (you can find it frozen at the grocery store )

Dijon

Sugar 

Soy sauce

Rice wine vinegar 

Pickled ginger

Soba noodles

Sesame oil

Olive oil

Roasted peanuts 

Sesame seeds ( toasted)

Mixed salad greens

Carrots

Red peppers

Snow peas 

Green onions

Cilantro 

Mint

Garlic 

Lemon

Fresh ginger

Noodles:

Place soba noodles in boiling water for 7 min them immediately rinse with cold water , shake dry 

Toss with 2 Tbs of soy sauce, 2 Tbs sesame oil, and Tbs of toasted sesame seeds in a medium bowl.

Veggies:

Slice 2 medium of carrots, 1 red pepper, and 1 cup of snow peas into thin stripes and mix in a medium bowl.

Herby mix:

Chop 1/4 green onions 

Chop  of  1/3 c fresh mint 

Chop 1/2 bunch of cilantro 

Chop  1/3c pickled ginger (reserve pickling liquid for dressing)

Mix and set aside in a small bowl.

Dressing:

5 TBS of passion fruit purée (you can find it frozen in grocery stores) if not see not below

1 fresh garlic clove

1 tsp fresh ginger

1/2 tsp Dijon mustard 

1 tsp lemon juice

1 TBS pickling juice

1 TBS rice wine vinegar

1 tsp sugar 

1 c olive oil 

Blend all ingredients except the olive oil in a food processor, slowly drizzle oil in while machine is running to emulsify

Dressed Greens:

Place 2 containers (8oz) of mixed greens in a medium bowl and dress with vinaigrette.

To assemble :

Place 1/3 of dressed salad greens in the bottom of your glass bowl 

Top with 1/3 layer of noodles 

Sprinkle 1/3 of snow peas, red pepper, and carrots 

Sprinkle with  1/3 green onions, cilantro, mint, and pickled ginger and sesame seeds 

Repeat 2 more times finishing with the cilantro, mint, scallions, sesame seeds and ginger place a sprig of mint in the center and garnish with toasted peanuts 

** you can’t find the purée...make your own :  any combination of: guava, mango, papaya, pineapple  to equal one pound and one cup of simple syrup (2/3c water and 11/2 c sugar bring to a boil for 2 min)

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