Soba Noodles with Edamame, Carrots and Spinach

Lately it feels like this blog has been a rollercoaster of bacon, and chocolate, and bacon, and pasta, and bacon. Not that there is anything wrong with that. I will defend my right to eat bacon and pasta and chocolate with every fiber of my being. But from time to time I do like to throw some healthy stuff into the mix, just to keep everyone on their toes, including me. And when I saw this recipe on Mark Bittman's fabulous Bitten blog a little while ago, I thought -- this thing is so incredibly nutritious that one plate of it will probably balance out the entire last month's worth of bacon.

Plus it sounded so delicious. I am a big fan of edamame, although I usually eat it in those liberally salted servings you get at sushi restaurants. So I was delighted to see it start appearing in the frozen food section of the supermarket in all its green and healthy glory. Soba noodles were a little trickier to find, but I tracked them down in the Asian section of the supermarket. They cook up in no time -- 4-5 minutes tops. Fast-cooking pasta, right up my alley! Miso is the hardest part; it is in the refrigerated section of the store.

Anyway, once you assemble the ingredients it is about 10 minutes from start to finish. I modified the recipe slightly to drop the baby spinach in the water for the last 30 seconds or so -- for those of you who want to try it Mark's way, he mixed it up with the pasta once it was drained. It depends how "cooked" you like your spinach. I like mine cooked, baby.

So the next time you feel the urge for something supremely healthy and super-delicious, give this a try. We now return you to your regularly scheduled bacon-imbued programming.

SOBA NOODLES WITH EDAMAME, CARROTS AND SPINACH, from Mark Bittman's BITTEN blog

Salt and freshly ground pepper

3 to 4 ounces soba noodles

1 carrot, peeled and chopped

2 cups edamame (frozen are fine)

2 to 3 tablespoons soy sauce

Juice of one lime

2 tablespoons white or light miso

1 tablespoon mirin or 1 teaspoon sugar, or to taste

1 10-ounce package fresh baby spinach

1/4 cup chopped scallion

1 tablespoon freshly grated ginger.

1. Bring a large pot of water to a boil and salt it. Drop in the noodles and carrot and cook until tender, 2 to 4 minutes; add the edamame and spinach for about 15 to 30 seconds just to warm, then drain everything in a colander. Set aside.

2. In a large salad bowl, whisk together the soy sauce, lime juice, miso and mirin or sugar. Add spinach, noodles, carrot, edamame, scallion, and toss; then taste and season with salt and pepper as needed. Garnish with grated ginger at the table.

Yield: 4 servings

Click here for printable recipe