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In food news this week–Did Taco Bell become a health food spot when we weren’t paying attention? Business Insider thinks so.
Marisa has a recipe recommendation for us–Nigella Lawson’s Cold Soba Noodle Salad.
We present the next segment in our ongoing series of cooking fats: Avocado oil.
Have you ever wondered if a Costco membership is worth it? So has Joy. She asks Marisa to give her some pointers before she goes to the store to find out for herself.
Finally, at the market this week, we are buying oranges.
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Ingredients
- 1/3 cup sesame seeds
- salt
- 8 ounces soba noodles
- 2 teaspoons rice vinegar
- 5 teaspoons soy sauce
- 2 teaspoons honey
- 2 teaspoons sesame oil
- 5 scallions
Instructions
- Toast the sesame seeds in a dry pan over high heat until they look golden brown, and tip them into a bowl.
- Bring a large pan of water to the boil and add some salt. Put in the soba noodles and cook them for about 6 minutes (or according to package instructions) until they are tender but not mushy. Have a bowl of iced water waiting to plunge them into after draining.
- In the bowl you are going to serve them in, mix the vinegar, soy sauce, honey, and oil. Then finely slice the scallions and put them into the bowl with the cooled, drained noodles and mix together thoroughly before adding the sesame seeds and tossing again.
- Leave the sesame seed noodles for about half an hour to let the flavors develop, although this is not absolutely necessary or sometimes even possible.
- Serves 4 as part of a meal; or 2 when eaten, gratifyingly, as they are.
If you’re taking a look at Costco, you should look at BJs too. I’ve found that the packaging is scaled a little smaller than at Costco (i.e., 4 or 5 lb. bag of organic rice vs. 10). Similarly to Costco, BJs has made a commitment to sustainability and increased their selection of organic and non-GMO products over the past few years. For the first walk-through to check prices and products (for either Costco or BJs) I recommend going during the evening, if you can. The store will be much emptier and less frantic than during a weekend afternoon. Good luck!
My college had a Taco Bell in the Student Union as a dining option, too!
Greetings!!! Love, love, love Local Mouthful podcast! Was recommended to me by Camille Storch, rad woman. I am so inspired by every episode, I’ve tried new recipes that you’ve talked about, and I just love them! In reference to episode 175, can I please have your mayonnaise recipe you mentioned?
Thanks for the episode, ladies! I no longer have a Costco membership, but some other favorites to get there are vanilla beans (soo cheap compared to other stores) and cinnamon sticks. Also, if you bake a lot, they have huge sacks of King Arthur flour. I’ve found the wild king salmon (if they have it) to be great — they come in whole filets, so slicing them up and popping them in the freezer is a great strategy.
Re: citrus, pomelos are my favorite by far, although you can usually only find them in Asian grocery stores. They’re just starting to come into season, so maybe the local HMart/Assi will have them, or Chinatown.
To tie the 2 segments together, I just bought a large bag of very delicious Cara Cara oranges at Costco and they are great so maybe look out for a bag when you’re there!
Depending on your food planning it can be worth it to buy produce there. Personally, I have found that the produce at Costco is better quality than the other stores (at least where I live) and it keeps longer before going bad. I tend to do a weekly shop at Costco and another more typical grocery store. I usually do some combination of produce from Costco, which I try to have a plan to use up and some smaller portions from another store).