If you’re boiling water, you may as well use the heat to cook more than one thing. In this case, you’ve got to heat up a pot of water to cook the soba noodles, but bell pepper slices also blanch in the water, and later, everything is poured over spinach to par-cook that.

In the end, the bulk of your salad is cooked, drained and cooled, and it’s just a matter of tossing with the dressing and topping with some fresh veggies.

Add protein to this salad with strips of tofu or hard-cooked egg (if your diet allows), or a handful of cooked beans.

The miso dressing is a bright alternative to the usual soy sauce-based soba dressing.

Soba Salad With Lemon-Miso Vinaigrette

Ingredients:

• 10 ounces dry buckwheat soba noodles

• 1 small bell pepper (any color) or carrot, thinly sliced

• 8 ounces spinach leaves

• 1 small cucumber, seeded and thinly sliced

• 1 cup halved cherry tomatoes

• 1 small avocado, peeled, seeded and thinly sliced

• 2 stalks green onion, sliced

• Furikake, for garnish

Ingredients for vinaigrette:

• 1/4 cup shiro (white) miso

• 2 tablespoons lemon juice

• 2 teaspoons honey, or to taste

• 2 teaspoons sesame oil

• 2 teaspoons soy sauce

Directions:

Bring a large pot of water to a boil. Add noodles and simmer 4 minutes, until beginning to soften. Add bell pepper and cook until crisp-tender and noodles are done.

Place spinach in colander. Pour noodles and cooking water into colander over spinach (the heat will cook the spinach just enough). Rinse in cold water.

Combine vinaigrette ingredients and whisk until smooth.

Place noodle mixture in serving bowl with cucumber and tomatoes, then add vinaigrette and toss. Top with avocado; garnish with green onion and furikake.

Serves 4.

Approximate nutrient analysis per serving (not including furikake garnish): 430 calories, 9 g fat, 1 g saturated fat, 0 mg cholesterol, 850 mg sodium, 77 g carbohydrate, 6 g fiber, 10 g sugar, 19 g protein. Nutritional analysis provided by Joannie Dobbs, Ph.D., C.N.S.

The Buddhist Tzu Chi Foundation is an international nonprofit with a local office in Kaimuki. Its mission of community service includes the promotion of a healthy vegetarian lifestyle. To learn more, visit facebook.com/hawaiitzuchi or call 808-737-8885.