This dish highlights the bounty of spring vegetables, both raw and charred. It is good hot, warm, or at room temperature.
Serves four.
2 oranges
1/2 cup tahini
1/4 cup low-sodium soy sauce
1 Tbsp. fresh ginger, grated
2 lbs. spring vegetables
10-12 oz. ramen noodles, preferably fresh
1/2 cup frozen shelled edamame
Sesame seeds
Salt and pepper
Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil. Use a vegetable peeler to peel the rind from an orange. Squeeze one cup juice from two oranges into a large bowl. To the orange juice, add the rind, half a cup of tahini, and a quarter cup low-sodium soy sauce. Finely grate one tablespoon ginger into the bowl, season with salt and pepper, and stir.
Trim the stem ends from two pounds of spring vegetables (any mix of asparagus, green beans, snap peas, snow peas). Thinly slice on a diagonal, half an inch thick. Add half -- only half -- to the bowl with the sauce, season with salt and pepper, and stir to combine.
Add 10 to 12 ounces ramen noodles (preferably fresh) and half a cup frozen shelled edamame to the boiling water and cook according to the package directions. Drain, rinse, then stir into the sauce.
In the same pot, heat two tablespoons neutral oil over medium-high heat. Add the remaining half of the vegetables. Season with salt and pepper and cook, stirring just once, until browned in spots, two to four minutes. Add everything in the sauce bowl and cook, tossing until the sauce is warm and glazy, one to two minutes. Shower with toasted sesame seeds.
Instead of ramen noodles, use soba, dried or fresh udon, or lo mein.
As an add-in, brown tofu or ground chicken or pork before adding the vegetables in step four. Remove, then add back with the sauce.
