For the sauce Peel and press the garlic. Peel the ginger (scrape off the skin with a spoon) and grate. Halve the lime and squeeze the juice. Grind the peanuts in a coffee grinder until you get a nut paste. Heat the sesame oil and rapeseed oil in a small saucepan on a medium heat.
In the original recipe, the authors use 4 tablespoons of peanut butter instead of 2 tablespoons (20g) of home-ground peanuts for 2 portions. They also use 1 tablespoon of sesame oil and not rapeseed oil. The amount of soy sauce in the original recipe is 4 teaspoons, but we have also adjusted this for health reasons.
Motivation (apple symbol) and link to the original recipe can be found directly above the recipe picture.
Stir-fry the garlic, ginger and chili flakes for 30 seconds until fragrant. Reduce the heat to low. Stir in the soy sauce, maple syrup and peanut butter. Add the lime juice and 6 tablespoons of water to the pan and stir everything into a smooth, creamy sauce. Remove the pan from the heat and set aside.
Prepare pasta and vegetables Prepare pasta according to the instructions on the packet. Pour boiling water over the frozen peas in a heatproof bowl. Drain after 1 minute, but save the water.
The cooking time for soba noodles is about 5 minutes. Soba noodles are available in different qualities and with different salt contents (see tips). We recommend using a low-salt version with less than 0.01 g of salt/100g. The version used here - nutritional values from the USDA - unfortunately has 2 g of salt per 100 grams. Therefore, we give this recipe a thumbs down.
The original recipe calls for an additional 20 g of unsalted peanuts for 2 servings.
Halve the sugar snap peas lengthways. Remove the stalks from the pak choi, remove the yellowish leaves in the middle, place the remaining leaves in the pea soaking water. Clean the spring onions, cut two of them into fine rings and the other two lengthways into thin strips. Pick the coriander leaves. Cut the lime into wedges. Halve the pepper, clean it and cut into strips. Peel the carrot and cut into thin strips. Drain the pak choi in a sieve, rinse with cold water and allow to drain.
Assemble the salad Add the noodles to the salad bowl and stir in the sauce until the noodles are completely coated. Thoroughly fold in the peas, sugar snap peas, pak choi, spring onions, bell pepper, carrot and spinach.
Arrange the salad in two bowls, garnish with spring onion strips, coriander leaves and black sesame seeds. Drizzle the salad with lime juice and serve.
In the original recipe, the authors specified 1 tablespoon of black sesame seeds for 2 servings.
Detailed Nutritional Information per Person for this Recipe
The majority of the nutritional information comes from the USDA (US Department of Agriculture). This means that the information for natural products is often incomplete or only given within broader categories, whereas in most cases products made from these have more complete information displayed.
If we take flaxseed, for example, the important essential amino acid ALA (omega-3) is only included in an overarching category whereas for flaxseed oil ALA is listed specifically. In time, we will be able to change this, but it will require a lot of work. An “i” appears behind ingredients that have been adjusted and an explanation appears when you hover over this symbol.
For Erb Muesli, the original calculations resulted in 48 % of the daily requirement of ALA — but with the correction, we see that the muesli actually covers >100 % of the necessary recommendation for the omega-3 fatty acid ALA. Our goal is to eventually be able to compare the nutritional value of our recipes with those that are used in conventional western lifestyles.
This health-optimized satay salad with soba noodles has a good fatty acid ratio, but depending on the type of noodle, it contains too much salt. You can easily avoid this by buying the right soba noodles.
New nutrient profile: According to GDA guidelines, one portion of this recipe covers several times the average daily requirement of vitamin K, vitamin C, folic acid and vitamin A. After our adjustments, the ratio of omega-6 to omega-3 fatty acids is 5:1, which is within the recommended maximum ratio. Read more at: Vegans often eat unhealthily. Avoidable nutritional errors.
Soba noodles: Soba noodles are thin, brown-grey noodles made from buckwheat, which are an essential part of Japanese cuisine. In Japan, there are even special soba restaurants that offer dishes prepared exclusively with soba noodles. The noodles are known for their good flavor absorption. They are available in different qualities and with different salt contents (see tips), although cheaper versions can contain wheat flour and therefore gluten.
Sugar snap peas (sweet peas): Sugar snap peas are a type of pea from the legume family. The tender sugar snap peas are usually eaten with their pods. They taste similar to peas, but are a little sweeter and juicier. They can also be eaten raw in salads, as they do not contain phasin, which causes damage to blood cells and the intestinal wall in large quantities. Some pods have threads that must be removed before use. To do this, simply cut off the ends of the pod and pull off the threads.
Pak Choi: Pak Choi, also called Pak Choy or Pok Choi, is a Chinese cabbage. It has a mild taste and takes hardly any time to cook.
Peas: Green peas have a crunchy consistency and can be used in many different dishes. They can be eaten raw and are high in protein and carbohydrates.
Sesame: Sesame is an annual, herbaceous plant species. Originally native to certain parts of India and Africa, this cultivated and oil plant is now grown in tropical and subtropical regions around the world. Sesame seeds, oil and roots can be used for therapeutic and culinary purposes. Depending on the variety, the fruit capsules contain black, brown or white seeds, with black sesame seeds being considered to have a more aromatic taste than white sesame seeds. Particularly noteworthy is the high calcium and selenium content of sesame seeds.
Ginger: Ginger has an aromatic smell and a sharp, spicy taste, which is due to the pungent substance gingerol, which is said to have anti-carcinogenic and anti-inflammatory effects. The rhizome of ginger is used in cooking in fresh, dried or ground form.
Tips
Reduce salt content: The high salt content of this dish could be effectively reduced with slight changes. We used a low-salt soy sauce and reduced the amount. We used unsalted peanuts and did not use peanut butter at all. The relatively high salt content is due to the fact that we have listed the USDA version, which, with around 2 g of table salt per 100 g, has many times the amount of salt compared to a low-salt soba noodle version (0.003 g per 100 g). We recommend using low-salt soba noodles.
Improve fatty acid ratio: We have improved the poor ratio of omega-6 to omega-3 fatty acids in the original recipe by making three adjustments: partially replacing the sesame oil with refined rapeseed oil, halving the amount of sesame seeds and omitting the additional peanuts. Instead of peanut butter, we use unsalted peanuts, which we grind ourselves into a butter in the coffee grinder. Sesame seeds have an extremely poor ratio of omega-6 to omega-3 fatty acids at 57:1 and sesame oil at 138:1. Rapeseed oil, on the other hand, has a very good ratio of 3:1.
Coriander aversion: Some people react to its intense, slightly soapy aroma with aversion or even nausea. According to statistics in Switzerland, 15% of all allergy sufferers are sensitive to coriander. In these cases, simply leave this ingredient out. There is no alternative that tastes similar. Flat-leaf parsley, although it looks similar, has a completely different taste.
Alternate preparation
Soba noodle substitute: If you don't have soba noodles on hand, you can also use gluten-freewhole grain rice noodles.
