So my husband is Chinese and throughout the 10 years we have been together I have adopted cooking Asian cuisine. I grew up in a family that ate everything processed, white bread, cookies, brownies etc. None of our vegetables were fresh and everything came from a can. 

In the beginning of our relationship you can imagine I was totally fighting this new lifestyle. I didn’t like vegetables and vegetable didn’t like me. I very much remember always hiding my green beans in napkins and in the lip of the table to avoid eating them as a child and teenager. 

I finally came around a couple years into our relationship. Today, 10 years later, I am tweaking the many recipes I have learned along the way to make even healthier for both myself and my family. 

This is a soba noodle recipes that can really be made many different ways with many different sauces. But the simplest one is below. Inspired from https://cooking.nytimes.com/recipes/1016016-soba-noodles-with-shiitakes-broccoli-and-tofu?regi=1&join_cooking_newsletter=true&login=facebook#_=_

INGREDIENTS

½ cup chicken or vegetable stock
1 tablespoon rice wine or dry sherry
1 tablespoon soy sauce (more to taste) (I use liquid aminos to cut the salt almost entirely)
½ teaspoon sugar (I substitute with coconut sugar, tastes the same but will help lower the glycemic index and not give you a sugar high.)
Salt to taste (I substitute with Nusalt again to eliminate the sodium)
1 tablespoon minced garlic
1 tablespoon minced ginger
¼ to ½ teaspoon red pepper flakes, or 1 to 2 serrano or Thai chiles, minced
8 ounces soba noodles
2 teaspoons sesame oil
½ pound baby broccoli
2 tablespoons grapeseed oil, peanut oil, sunflower oil or canola oil (I use olive oil)
6 ounces fresh Bella sliced mushrooms
1 bunch scallions, thinly sliced, dark green parts separated
½ cup coarsely chopped cilantro

1/2 teaspoon sesame seeds for garnishment 

1.) Blanch broccoli florets for 3 min in 1 cup water, 1 cup chicken stock, 3 big peices ginger, 1 head garlic and 1 tablespoon green onion whites. (Keep the greens for garnishment on the fish later)

2.) Remove broccoli from the boiling water mix and then run under cold water. Dry off with a paper towel and toss in sesame oil.

3.) Add soba noodles to the water mix and follow package instructions until they are tender. Immediately run under cold water to stop the cooking process. 

4.) Combine stock, soy sauce, rice wine or sherry, sugar and salt to taste in a small bowl. Stir until sugar and salt dissolve. Combine garlic, ginger, and pepper flakes or minced chile in another bowl

5.) In a wok or large frying pan add a teaspoon olive oil. Once heated add mushrooms and peppers for about 2 minutes. Add noddles, broccoli and sauce mix from step 4 and let simmer for about 4 minutes. 

6.) plate and top with green onion, sesame seeds and fresh cilantro 

Enjoy this 368 calorie dinner or lunch per serving and makes 4 servings. If you want to add protien you can cube up some tofu it’s only about 20 calories more per serving.