Simple Vegan | Spicy Cold Soba Bento

I discovered Bentos through blogger, Biggie's Lunch in a Box and started packing my own. Not too long after I found her blog, I went out and purchased this three-tiered lunch box at my local Asian grocery store. Most days I pack breakfast in the top and lunch in the lower two tiers.

This time I pulled out a recipe from one of my favorite cookbooks, Marilu Henner's Healthy Life Kitchen. I discovered Marilu back in 2000 and actually followed all of the steps to her Total Health Makeover. (For a long time, my son, Chase called her "the woman who destroyed his life." He was referring to me throwing out all the dairy, sugar and junk food.)

This is a variation of the Spicy Cold Soba Noodles recipe from page 257.I've adjusted some of the amounts to make it more to my taste.

1/3 c soy sauce
1 T molassaes
2 T sesame oil
1/4 c tahini
2t chili oil (or a squirt of sriacha)
2 T balsamic or red wine vinegar
1/2 bunch scallions thinly sliced

1/2 lb soba noodles (Japanese buckwheat noodles)

Start water boiling for the soba noodles. They cook really fast (5 min) so you don't want to throw them in until the sauce is almost ready.

I heat the soy sauce in a pan then throw everything else in and stir with a wisk. (There are much more proper directions in Marilu's cookbook.)

Once the soba noodles are done you rinse them in a collander with cold water. Then mix it all together and voila.

The best part is they taste better cold the next day so they are perfect for Bento. In case you are wondering, the other container has matchstick carrots, edamame, cherries and a container with sriacha--in case it wasn't quite spicy enough.