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This Cold Sesame Ginger Soba Noodle Salad with Shrimp is packed-full of veggies and protein to make a delicious and satisfying meal. It’s perfect for BBQs, picnics of even lunch on the run! It’s also gluten-free!
You know what drives me bonkers?! False advertising. I get the concept of needing to sell a product, but marketing your jelly beans as fat-free isn’t cool. You know what turns into fat? Sugar. You know what the main ingredient in jelly beans is? Sugar. I apologize in advance for this post becoming a full-on rant.
Let’s rewind for a minute here. It’s a beautiful day and I decide to get my grocery shop on. I put together my list, grab my bundle buggy and head to the store. Sometimes I get inspired when I’m there and as I was looking for tamari, my eyes glazed over a pack of soba noodles. Hmmmm cold soba noodle salad sounded good so I made an impulse buy and headed home.
When I got home from the store it was lunchtime so I decided to put together the salad. As I was pulling out all of the ingredients I think I want to use for the salad, I glanced across the soba noodle packaging only to notice that the first ingredient in them was enriched wheat flour <–SAY WHAT? I was livid. Not only was I a) hangry and b) experiencing an intense craving which needed to be fulfilled immediately, but I truly felt deceived. The front of the package says “Buckwheat Soba Noodles” so naturally you would expect them to be made from buckwheat? Okay fine buckwheat was the second and only other ingredient but still…
Instead I had to put aside my craving until I could make it to a health food store to pick up some legit buckwheat noodles. The people at Vibrant Lifestyle (I love it there!) were not only nice enough to listen to my rant but also taught me to always look for 100% buckwheat noodles. Nonetheless, I still have some pent up anger.
Other types of false advertising that drives me nuts: When multigrain is just a combo of white and whole-wheat, “made with corn!” aka high-fructose corn syrup, or when companies fool consumers into thinking their product is healthy because it is labeled as gluten-free. I could go on and on but in my attempts to keep this space a positive place, I’ll stop. For now, I urge you to read more into the products you buy. I’m not talking calories, but look at the ingredients! And try not to come home with enriched wheat flour soba noodles…
Cold Sesame Ginger Soba Noodle Salad with Shrimp
- Total Time: 30 minutes
Ingredients
- 1 package of 100% buckwheat soba noodles (8 oz)
- 1 bell pepper, sliced
- 2 cups bean sprouts
- ½ pound cooked shrimp, deveined and peeled
For The Sesame Ginger Dressing:
- 1 T finely minced ginger root
- 1 T sesame oil
- 1 garlic clove
- 1 1/2 T honey
- 2 T rice wine vinegar
- 2 T tamari
- ½ tsp red pepper flakes (optional)
- 2 T sesame seeds (for topping)
Instructions
- Cook buckwheat noodles according to package instructions.
- Run noodles under cold water until completely cool.
- In a large bowl add noodles, bell pepper, bean sprouts and shrimp.
- In a separate bowl combine all ingredients for the sesame ginger dressing.
- Pour onto noodle mixture and top with sesame seeds.
- Serve cold.
- Will keep for several days in the refrigerator.
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 4
I love soba noodles and I think this looks so flavorful and refreshing! I always try to remember to read the label before buying something. I’m not a huge fan of false advertising!
UGH false labeling pisses me off so much. The time I get most annoyed with it is with yogurt actually. Very specific. But basically I hate “fat free” flavored yogurt because guess what?! IT’S PUMPED WITH ASPARTAME! I yell at my mom for eating it all the time. Merp.
ANYWAY this looks super good. I have a strange affinity for bean sprouts, so. Yeah.
Oh my gosh! I totally agree with you about the multigrain and the gluten free issue! False advertising is the worst! Especially when it comes to healthy eating. Most people just don’t have the knowledge to be able to decipher all this propaganda and make informed decisions.
I think I’ve settled on Vancouver for my mini-vacay. DONT BE MAD. But, it’s just that Vancouver has the ocean, mountains and all that outdoorsy stuff I love.
My BFF just moved to Toronto so I will visit you soon. xoxox
Totally agree with you here. Package labelling can be ridiculously deceiving! I actually recently talked about this during a nutrition educations session I did with pregnant women. My #1 advice was to always read. the. ingredients!
I have had exactly this problem before!! The extra frustrating part is that the 100% buckwheat noodles (at least at my local Whole Foods) are super expensive–I think $8 a package. For noodles? How silly!
Have you ever tried any of these Asian-type recipes with black bean noodles? I just discovered them recently and they’re a great option!
Cold noodle salads are some of my favorite dishes during the summer because they are just so refreshing! I might replace the shrimp with tofu but the sesame ginger dressing sounds amazing too! (I’ve also had that same problem with buckwheat noodles that aren’t completely buckwheat…)
What a pretty noodle salad! Would you believe, I’ve never tried Soba noodles. Gotta change that!
My life is false advertising because I live it/work it/breathe it. I fall for dumb shit (i.e. flash sales) but I’m good at knowing what is a good buy and what isn’t (thanks marketing degree!). Also I read every label like a freak, it takes me years at the grocery store… and I wonder where all my time goes. ANYWAY, this looks delicious but are you trying to kill me with those shrimp? Maybe Joe P and I can switch out for some scallops. Have they invented a shrimp allergy shot yet?
It’s interesting the see the lengths that companies will go to jump on the ‘healthy’ bandwagon, to the point of being deceiving. Anything to make a buck, apparently!