Soba Noodle Salad with Asian Pesto is one more delicious pesto use. This one requires a little modification, so I’ve written it out again, but it’s useful to compare it to the original so you get a sense of how to modify pesto type sauces in general. Soba Noodle Salad with Asian Pesto is a great salad to make year round as it’s fairly easy to find good quality cherry tomatoes, radishes and cukes all the time. It’s also quick and easy. And if you don’t think you’ll eat all the pasta at the same time, just cook what you need or cook it all but don’t add the pesto to all of it, because of the oil and acid in the pesto, it breaks down the noodles and makes them soggy. But if you store the extra noodles separately, they’ll be fine and you’ll have the joy of Soba Noodle Salad with Asian Pesto leftovers.

1 pound Asian eggplant
Kosher salt
½ pound buckwheat soba noodles
1 cup cherry tomatoes
1 cup radishes
1 cup English cucumber

Asian Pesto:
2 cups fresh basil leaves (thai if you can find them)
⅓ cup cashews
2-4 cloves of garlic
½ cup olive canola oil
2 tablespoons sesame oil
2 tablespoons soy sauce
2 tablespoons lime juice

Cube eggplant into bite-size pieces. Fry in canola and sesame oil (start with 2 tablespoons canola and 1 teaspoon sesame, but you’ll likely need a little more). Make sure you are patient on this step and really brown each side. Raw eggplant doesn’t have a good flavor or texture in my opinion. Remove to a large salad bowl to cool.

In a food processor, pulse basil, cashews and garlic until finely chopped. With the machine on, add the oil and soy sauce in a steady stream. Let it run for a minute or two. Finally, stream in the lime juice.

In a large saucepan of salted boiling water, cook the soba noodles until al dente, about 4 minutes. Rinse the noodles under cold water, then drain and pat dry.

Halve the tomatoes. Add to the serving bowl. Cut the radishes into thin wedges through the stem. Halve the cucumber lengthwise and thinly slice crosswise. Add to the serving bowl.

After you’ve drained the noodles, put them back in the pot and toss the soba noodles with the pesto until evenly coated. Start with ¼ cup. You may not need the whole batch. Just refrigerate or freeze the leftovers. Add to the grilled eggplant, tomatoes, radishes, cucumber. Toss well.