So I’m going in a more summery direction: Modified bún (Vietnamese noodle salad)!

Here’s what makes it a great summer dish:

• Mint, basil and cilantro (cooling)
• Cucumber (further cooling)
• Lime (refreshing)
• Cold noodles you need only to soak in hot water, cutting down stove time

I came across the recipe on The Kitchn earlier this month and fell in love the first time I made it. The herbs complement one another delightfully, and the dish is filling but never heavy.

The only bummer was how many stupid plastic bags of green things I had to buy. But then, lucky me, that very week my professor gave me a beautiful basil plant! It’s a pretty bodacious specimen, and it’s even survived its transfer to a bigger pot. Look at it go:

Those leaves aren't yellow; they're aglow with nutritious sunlight!

I’m thinking it’s going to do better than my little tarragon plant, which is still alive but has had a long year. Winter on a windowsill did not do it good. But I’m taking my horticultural responsibilities pretty seriously and am determined to keep these alive, even if it means buying a grow-lamp and running up the electricity bill.

Enough about me; here’s the recipe, as I’ve adapted it from The Kitchn (my changes in italics):

Vietnamese-Style Salad (2 servings [my boyfriend and I are hungry, hungry hippos; other people might like less food])

The Stuff
4 oz. rice sticks (I use about 2/3 of the 6.75-oz. bag by Dynasty) + trace of sesame oil
1 cup bean sprouts
1 cucumber, cut into match sticks
1 carrot, cut into match sticks
(how big is a carrot? how big is a cucumber? just try to get even amounts of the two)
lettuce (I forgot to use lettuce the second time I made this and have since omitted it; I like it better without!)

Sauce
2 T lime juice
2 T fish sauce (without this the recipe could be vegan, but after trying it with just soy sauce per The Kitchn, I agree with all the comments that, oh no no no, this dish needs fish sauce)
2 T sugar + 2 T water
1 t grated ginger (maybe this is totally inauthentic, but it tastes awesome)
2 t Sriracha (recipe calls for just garlic, but this provides garlic and chili, which makes it just the right kind of spicy for me)

Garnish
1 heaping T of packed basil leaves (I snipped 15 from my plant, please forgive!)
1 heaping T of packed mint leaves (in the stupid, overpriced plastic box from the store)
1 heaping T of packed cilantro (trying to preserve the rest of my store-bought bunch upright in a glass of water with a bag over the top, will let you know how it goes)
1/4 C peanuts, crushed

Step 1: Boil enough water (I did this in my small tea kettle) to cover the rice sticks. Let sit in a covered pot for 10 minutes.
Step 2: Chop the carrot and cucumber. Rinse and drain the bean sprouts.
Step 3: Chop the garnishes.
At my chopping pace, 10 minutes has passed, so onto
Step 4: Drain the noodles and put a few drops of sesame oil on them while they cool. You can stick them in the fridge for later, too. (Unlike “pasta,” rice sticks don’t seem to clump, so you could do this well ahead of time if you wanted to, I think.)
Step 5: In a small bowl, mix the sugar and water to make a simple syrup (I microwave for 15 seconds to get the dissolving on).
Step 6: Add lime juice and fish sauce to simple syrup. Stir.
Step 7: Add grated ginger, and stir in the Sriracha.
Step 8: Divide noodles between two plates or big bowls. Spread carrots, cucumber and bean sprouts over each. Pour the sauce over everything. Add the garnishes.

NB: This dish usually takes a protein. The original recipe suggested frying tofu, which I’ve done, and I can imagine this would be really great with shrimp–but for now I’m going really simple/cheap style, and letting the herbs star in this show.

HERB INSPIRATION #2: Make this dish, eat under my new ceiling fan (thanks, landlord!). And keep my basil plant alive.

I love edamame, and my realization a few years ago that these sushi shop staples could be had at my local grocery store was very exciting for me (Is my life this dull?).  In fact, bags of frozen edamame – shelled or unshelled – are so cheap that I realized how outrageous  it is that restaurants will charge you $4 for tiny bowl-full and stopped ordering them when I eat out.

But even though I started buying edamame regularly, I still thought of them as nothing more than a snack. Basically a popcorn substitute for when I felt like shaking things up. I always bought the kind in the shells and gave no thought to other culinary possibilities, despite Claire’s excellent advice.

That changed last week when I reviewed a sandwich shop for the other blog I write for. My tasty panini came with a perhaps even tastier side of edamame salad that was so good, I made some myself the very next day. The salad is great warm or cold, can be made in about 5 minutes, and is a great change of pace from your standard green vegetables. What’s not to like?

Most of you probably know that edamame are soybeans, but I bet most of you don’t know – I didn’t – that they are actually unripe soybeans. Mature soybeans – like those used for oil, tofu, etc. – actually turn brown and dark before they’re picked. I have no idea whatsoever, but I’m guessing they’re not as good for snacking at this point. Who knows though, maybe they’re just not as aesthetically pleasing. Any soybean farmers out there have an answer for us?

The recipe here is honestly contained in the title. Heat frozen unshelled edamame in some fashion, and then add lemon and mint. That’s it. I warmed the edamame in a saute pan, but I actually don’t think this was the best idea. It took a while to get them evenly heated, and it started to seem like some of them were going to burn. Next time I’d follow package directions and heat them in the microwave or boil them. Just be sure to drain before dressing.

I used one bagfull of edamame, which I believe was 12 ozs. To this I added the juice of half a lemon and as much of a bunch of mint as I had the patience to chop up. I also salted it somewhat aggressively. This ratio was pretty much right, but after sitting for a few mintues, the lemony edge seemed to dissipate. I don’t know if I didn’t mix it up well enough at first or if the beans absorbed some of the lemon as they sat, but I wound up adding the juice of the other half of the lemon as well. Taste as you go and you’ll be fine, which is just good advice in general.