Scallion & Edamame Noodles with Spicy Cucumber Salad

I've been very lucky in my partner that he enjoys food in all forms and isn't picky. He'll eat anything I cook and moreover appreciate it too. I'd hate to cook for picky eaters. I don't like admitting this, but I'm not a big fan of cooking for guests who have a list of things they don't eat. It bothers me when people aren't open minded about food. My dad used to be a picky eater when he first started visiting me in US but soon after started liking most (if not all) things I prepared for him. My mom has always been pretty easy going so there's never been issues with her, thankfully. I love hosting my parents every time they visit from India since they're willing to try anything with food and have good appetites.

This is the kind of noodle salad I know my dad would really like. It's spicy, fresh, crunchy and has a healthy amount of carbs :) He loves salads prepared like this. I think his love for it started in Assam where he was stationed for a bit as a field scientist when he was working as a field geologist. He often talks about raw cabbage salads he had there that were crunchy, spicy and sour from the limes juiced over it. He is retired now and leads an exciting life of creating & publishing Urdu literature but still enjoys good food.

If you love Asian cuisine, you'll love this salad and noodles. It hits all the flavor notes you seek from an Asian dish: hot, sour, salty and sweet. The salad keeps well too so it makes an excellent choice for boxed lunches. Just make sure to not add the herbs until just before serving.

Scallion & Noodle Recipe adapted from Plenty More, Yotam Ottolenghi
Spicy Cucumber Salad adapted from Williams Sonoma
Makes 5 servings for both

Spicy Cucumber salad:
12 oz cucumber, peeled in places and halved and thinly sliced
1/2 tsp sea salt
1/2 tbsp sugar
4 tbsp rice vinegar
1/2 tsp red chile flakes
1/2 tbsp black sesame seeds
1 garlic clove, minced
1/3 cup chopped mint (optional, since it tends to discolor as it sits if you want leftovers for next day)

Scallion & Edamame Noodles:
12 oz frozen edamame, blanched for 3 minutes in salted water and refreshed in ice cold water briefly
8 oz rice noodles, cooked for 5 minutes in same boiling water and coated with 1 tbsp sesame oil and kept warm in serving bowl (or cook according to package directions and add oil and keep warm)
3 tbsp sunflower oil
1 lb/450 gm scallion, trimmed and cut on the diagonal into 1" long pieces
1/2 tsp heaping sea salt
2 jalapeno, sliced thinly
1 lime, zested plus lime wedges to serve with each serving
3 tbsp mix of black & white sesame seeds (use half and half of each)
3 tbsp rice vinegar
1/2 tsp heaping sea salt
1 bunch cilantro, tough stems trimmed and the rest coarsely chopped

Instructions:
Make the salad first by tossing cucumber slices with salt and sugar in a medium bowl and letting it sit for ~30 minutes. Transfer to a colander and rinse in cold water and drain thoroughly, by pressing through hands on it too. Using the same medium bowl that you had your cucumber slices first (but rinsing it first), add vinegar, chile flakes, sesame seeds, garlic cloves and (optional) mint and mix thoroughly. Add the cake slices and toss to coat well. Refrigerate till you make the noodles.
Rinse the wide 5 quart saucepan that you used to blanch the edamame beans and cook noodles in. Heat it on medium till the water evaporates and add sunflower oil and raise the heat to high. Once the oil is hot, add the scallions and saute for 4-5 minutes till there's a touch of color and they are tender and not crunchy to bite. Add edamame beans and heat through, for about 30-60 seconds. Add 1/2 tsp heaping sea salt and mix through and set aside. Pour this mixture over the warm noodles along with jalapeños, lime zest, sesame seeds, rice vinegar and salt and toss to mix thoroughly. Serve with the cilantro, cucumber salad and a wedge of lime to squeeze over each serving. Enjoy!