I thought I could heart health-ify Yottam Ottolenghi’s “Soba Noodles With Eggplant and Mango” from his Plenty vegetarian cookbook, and it turned out well. (Plenty was one of our pre-heart attack favorite cookbooks.)
My kids loved the idea of sweet and fruity noodles. This was a very easy meal together to pull together. Because it’s a meatless, vegan recipe, it’s also cheap.
Heart healthy, easy and cheap is the sacred trifecta I’m always striving for, so this is a win.
Soba Noodles With Eggplant & Mango
Servings: 4
Calories: 340kcal
Ingredients
- 6 – 7 ounces of soba noodles (3 bundles)
- ½ eggplant (cut into slices and quartered)
- 2 tablespoon rice vinegar
- 1 tablespoon lime juice
- 1 tablespoon sugar
- ½ teaspoon sesame oil
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- 1 teaspoon canola oil
- 1 minced garlic clove
- ¼ red onion (sliced into thin slices)
- 1 mango (or 1 cup frozen mango cubes, thawed)
- 2 tablespoon fresh basil leaves (chopped)
- 2 tablespoon fresh parsley leaves (chopped)
Instructions
- Mix together the rice vinegar, lime juice, sugar, sesame oil and salt in a small bowl and set aside.
- Preheat the oven to 400 °F . Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
- Cut the eggplant into ½-inch slices (or thereabouts). Cut each slice into quarters, and arrange the eggplant pieces in a single layer on the baking sheet. Spray the eggplant pieces lightly with nonstick spray and pop them in the oven for 20 – 30 minutes, turning the eggplant pieces over at the 15-minute mark.
- Boil a pot of water and cook the soba noodles according to package instructions (soba noodles soften up A LOT faster than wheat pasta does! They cook in under 5 minutes.)
- Heat 1 teaspoon canola oil in a skillet over medium-high heat. Cook the minced garlic and sliced red onion for about 30 seconds. Stir in the mango chunks and the sauce you made in step 1. Remove from heat and set aside.
- When the soba noodles are done cooking, drain them and stir them into the garlic-onion-mango mixture.
- When the eggplant is done cooking, stir it into the noodles.
- Cut up some basil and parsley and stir it in just before serving.
