Chilled Soba Noodles with Lemony Asparagus Sauce

Delicious, creamy, vibrant sauce!

Another recipe from Christina Pirello's book "Glow".  I absolutely loved this recipe!  Very creamy and rich-tasting without heavy ingredients!  I had this warm, but this would be great as a cold salad!

You'll need:

1 lb. fresh asparagus, ends snapped off, cut into 1" pieces (I used 1 1/2 lbs.)
2 tbsp. extra virgin olive oil
sea salt, to taste
grated zest of 1 lemon (I also added in the juice of 1/2 the lemon)
1 cup plain soy milk (I used 1 1/4 cups)
1 tsp. kuzu, dissolved in 2 tbsp. of cold water (or arrowroot, cornstarch, etc.) I didn't need this at all - the sauce was very creamy and thick
8 oz. of soba noodles (my pkg. was 12 oz. - that is why I added in extra soy milk/asparagus)

Separate the asparagus tips from the stems and set aside.

Heat the oil in a skillet over medium heat.  Add the asparagus stems, a pinch of salt, and lemon zest and saute' until bright green and tender, about 2 minutes.  Add the soy milk, season to taste with salt, and bring to a boil, covered, over low heat.  simmer for 5 minutes.

Transfer mixture to a food processor or a blender and puree until smooth.  Return to the skillet and stir in reserved aspargus tips.  Simmer over low heat until tips are bright green, about 2 minutes.  Stir in dissolved kuzu and cook, stirring until sauce thickens slightly.

While the sauce cooks, bring a pot of water to boil.  Add soba noodles and boil until tender, about 8 minutes. (mine said 5-6 minutes - they were the variety that had yam flour added).  Drain and rinse well - Japanese noodles are coated with salt during drying and require rinsing after cooking for the best flavor.

To serve, toss noodles with asparagus sauce and serve warm or chill in fridge.  Enjoy!