Chicken Soba Noodles

“Growing up in Vermont, the local restaurant scene was limited. We had a single pizzeria run by a local Greek family, a single Chinese restaurant, and a handful of locally owned moderately priced Americana restaurants. Classing it up meant driving for just over an hour to the nearest Olive Garden. Because of the lack of dining options, I have vivid memories of trying all the different types of cuisines of which I did not have previous access. I can tell you that the first meal I had at an Indian restaurant was a rich goat curry with my first taste of a mango lassi in the heart Fresno, California. The first time I had pad Thai was we had traveled to San Diego’s Gaslamp District. We were just interns living in Vero Beach, Florida the first time I had an authentic Cubano.

One of our favorite things to do is take a dish and put a spin on it. Adding an ingredient to dish that evokes a memory of a specific time in our lives or of a location we once lived is a game we play. This dish of peanut chicken with soba noodles is a mash up of different cultures, but it brings us back to the time we spent in the foothills of the Sierras. The green vegetables add a complexity to the dish and the lime juice lightens it against the peanut butter’s richness.

What you plate your food with is just about as important as what you put into the dish itself. Our cupboards are filled with all sorts of shapes and sizes of plates, bowls, and serving platters collected over a lifetime of traveling and eating. Coupes bowls and plates are not only beautiful but exceptionally functional. They force your attention to the center of the plate and focus on the food.” – Joe

Ingredients

• 0.5 head Napa cabbage – sliced thin
• 1 medium crown of broccoli – florets removed and stem chopped
• 1 medium zucchini – cut in half and sliced
• 0.5 yellow onion – sliced thin
• 1 pound skinless chicken breast – fat trimmed off and sliced
• 1 bundle sobas noodles
• 0.5 cups cashews

For the peanut sauce:

• 2 clove garlic – minced
• 0.5 cup creamy peanut butter
• 2 tablespoon Tamari
• 1 lime – zested and juiced
• 1 teaspoon brown sugar
• 1 teaspoon garlic chili sauce

Directions

1. Set a medium sized pot of salted water on to boil.
2. Heat a large skillet with olive oil over medium high on a second burner. Once hot add the chicken and brown on all sides and season with salt and pepper.
3. Remove the chicken to a plate lined with paper towel.
4. Add in all the vegetables and cook until the broccoli is tender or for about four minutes.
5. In a small bowl add all the ingredients to the sauce and mix well to combine.
6. Add the soba noodles to the boiling water and cook as until tender or for about three minutes. Drain, toss the noodles with olive oil, and set aside.
7. To the skillet, add the chicken and the peanut sauce. Stir to combine well.
8. To plate, add the noodles first, a generous helping of chicken and vegetables, and garnish with cashews.