Healthy Sesame Soba Noodle Bowls

This light, fresh vegetarian main dish makes your meatless Monday a breeze, plus any leftovers are great for lunch on Tuesday!+

Ingredients

12oz uncooked soba (buckwheat) noodles

2tablespoons toasted sesame oil

1red bell pepper, cut into strips

2cups fresh snow pea pods (1 cup), strings removed, cut diagonally (about 4 1/2 oz)

6medium green onions, cut diagonally, whites and greens separated

1tablespoon finely chopped gingerroot

2cloves garlic, finely chopped

1/4cup honey

5tablespoons reduced-sodium soy sauce

1/2cup orange juice

2oranges, sectioned

1tablespoon black sesame seed

1Cook noodles as directed on package. Drain; rinse under cold water until cool. Set aside.
2Meanwhile, in 5-quart Dutch oven, heat sesame oil over medium heat until shimmering. Add bell pepper, snow peas and whites of onions, reserving onion greens for garnish. Cook 3 to 4 minutes or until softened. Remove vegetables from Dutch oven; set aside.
3Add gingerroot, garlic, honey and soy sauce to Dutch oven; heat to simmering. Cook 3 to 5 minutes or until thickened. Beat in orange juice with whisk; remove from heat. Add noodles to orange juice mixture; toss to coat.
4Divide noodles evenly among 6 bowls. Top with vegetables, oranges, sesame seed and onion greens.

To section an orange, peel orange down to flesh, leaving no white pith. With sharp knife and between walls of membrane, cut segments straight down. Gently remove sections.
Black sesame seed adds a great unexpected color and light crunch to this dish, but plain toasted sesame seed makes a great substitution.
To pack an extra protein punch, top the noodles with baked tofu.
If you are carefully watching your sodium intake, be sure to check the nutrition label of the soba noodles.The sodium levels can vary widely.We used soba noodles with 0 mg of sodium per serving in our calculations.