Lemony Cucumber Salad with Soba and Tofu

Meet my nemesis. 

CSA dill is the bane of my existence. I barely finished the bunch from last week and a got another huge bunch today. I like dill a lot. I think we forget about it if we aren't making pickles, but that it's subtle flavor compliments many different vegetables. But seriously. Two weeks in a row is a little much. I probably should have put it in the swap box, but I didn't. Oh no. I decided I'm cooking everything from this CSA and damn it, it will happen.

It's still hot out. Hot enough that we actually decided to go to the movies this afternoon. We never go to the movies (for those of you who don't live in NYC, a movie ticket here is $12). It helped that it was a screening of animated shorts, so it's not something we can just get from Netflix. And it helped that it was at BAM, a short walk away. We spent 80 minutes in glorious movie theater air conditioning and saw some very entertaining animated shorts. Then it was home to make a simple dinner (are you noticing a Saturday night trend here?) that wasn't going to heat up the apartment too much. And would use up as much dill as was humanly possible (and really, though I love dill, a handful per two-serving dish is about all I can do). And, of course, D had a smoothie made with a bunch of fruit we had in the freezer, one of the peaches we got from the CSA, and the last tiny bit of Raspberry Cabernet Sorbet. As I write this post, he's telling me he plans to make a frozen pizza after I go to bed. Which will likely be before 10 PM. I know. I'm really too lame to live in New York. 

Lemony Cucumber Salad with Soba and Tofu

 Adapted from a recipe from 101 Cookbooks

2 small cucumbers, sliced 1/4" thick

a handful of dill, chopped (or if you are overrun with it like I am, as much as you reasonably think you can put in this dish)

1/4 c olive oil

1/4 c lemon juice

2 large pinches of salt

8 oz extra firm tofu, cut into cubes

1/4 c almonds

1 bundle of soba noodles from a 9.5 oz package

Toss the cucumber slices, dill, salt, olive oil and lemon juice in a bowl. Let sit for at least 20 minutes.

Heat a large, well seasoned skillet over medium-high to high heat. Add the tofu cubes and a bit of salt. Cook, tossing occasionally, until golden brown on all sides. 

Remove cucumbers from the dressing and place in a large bowl. Add the tofu, half the remaining dressing and half of the almonds. Toss. Taste and add more dressing or salt if necessary. Pop all of this in the fridge

Bring a pot of salted water to a boil. Cook soba according to package directions. Drain. Rinse with cold water to stop the cooking. Toss cold soba with remaining dressing. Serve the cucumber mixture over the soba. Top with remaining almonds.

Serves 2-3