Intoduction by Jo-Anne Lauzer
Fraiche Food, Fuller Hearts
In their first cookbook, Fraiche Food, Full Hearts, Tori Wesszer and Jillian Harris focused on entertaining with recipes and menus for large family gatherings. Their second cookbook, Fraiche Food, Fuller Hearts, takes a slightly different approach. “We really wanted to make a book that was much more approachable from an everyday perspective and help busy families get good food on the table,” Wesszer says. “It’s still very plantbased in terms of its focus, but also adaptable to meet a variety of dietary needs.” With the rising cost of groceries, they also incorporate what Wesszer calls “scrappy cooking” by offering several ways to use one recipe, like the magic dough recipe, or repurposing leftovers (e.g., Pierogi Waffles). As a dietician living in the Okanagan, Wesszer enjoys helping families confidently plan and prepare healthy meals and includes a sample meal plan in the book (but offers a more detailed approach through fraichetable. com). She is currently working on a meal-planning cookbook.
For the soba noodle salad, Wesszer recommends “prepping [it] in advance and keeping the dressing and salad separate to save time. The dressing would also serve as an incredible marinade for tofu that you could add on top for extra protein, giving it a quick toss in a hot pan on the stove before adding to the salad. If you can’t find soba noodles, egg noodles (or any long thin pasta) are also terrific.”
Preparation
When introduced to wafu dressing, Jill instantly fell in love with its flavour profile. Wafu is a Japanese-style dressing typically made with soy sauce, rice vinegar and vegetable oil. We were inspired by it to create this soba noodle salad that is so fresh and flavourful. Our dressing is creamy thanks to the addition of mayonnaise, with the flavour of ginger peeking through.
This salad can be made with either romaine lettuce or savoy cabbage — either is great but we love the crispness of the savoy. If you want to take this recipe to the next level, try toasting your sesame seeds to bring out their flavour. You can add tofu or cooked shrimp to turn this into a complete meal.
Soba noodle salad
1 package soba noodles
1 cup shredded purple cabbage
1 cup shredded romaine lettuce or savoy cabbage
1 cup cooked shelled edamame
1 cup diced English cucumber
1 cup thinly sliced sweet pepper
½ cup shredded peeled carrots
½ cup roughly chopped fresh cilantro
½ cup thinly sliced green onions (white and light green parts only)
¼ cup sesame seeds
Lime wedges, for serving
Wafu-inspired dressing
3 tablespoons vegan mayonnaise
2 tablespoons soy sauce
2 tablespoons unseasoned rice vinegar
1 tablespoon sesame oil
1 tablespoon fresh lime juice
1 tablespoon sugar
1 tablespoon grated yellow onion or white onion
1 tablespoon grated peeled fresh ginger
Start the soba noodle salad: Cook the soba noodles according to the package directions. Drain the noodles and rinse under cold running water. Let cool.
Meanwhile, make the wafu-inspired dressing: In a small bowl, whisk together the mayonnaise, soy sauce, rice vinegar, sesame oil, lime juice, sugar, onion, and ginger.
Assemble the salad: In a large bowl, combine the cooled soba noodles, cabbage, lettuce, edamame, cucumber, sweet peppers, and carrots. Toss together. Drizzle with the dressing. Garnish with the cilantro, green onion, and sesame seeds. Serve with the lime wedges on the side.
Gluten-free: Use 100 per cent buckwheat soba noodles and gluten-free soy sauce or tamari
Excerpted from Fraiche Food Fuller Hearts by Jillian Harris and Tori Wesszer. Copyright © 2023 Jillian Harris and Tori Wesszer. Photography by Rachelle Beatty.
Published by Penguin, an imprint of Penguin Canada, a division of Penguin Random House Canada Limited.
Reproduced by arrangement with the Publisher. All rights reserved.
