Soba Noodles with Poached Chicken & Roasted Carrots

Adapted from Spaghetti, Chicken, and Carrot Salad in Gourmet Magazine, June 1974

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I think what’s been most interesting about flipping through these old cooking magazines is the sheer lack of images that are associated with the recipes. You could maybe say that modern cooking magazines have swung too far in the other direction, but even as someone who has advanced cooking skills, I think I prefer to at least know what I am going for.

This recipe is adapted from Spaghetti, Chicken, and Carrot Salad and at first read (or second), I actually have no idea what that is supposed to be. It was published in the section called Gastronomie Sans Argent, which is Gourmet Magazine’s more budget-minded section, with June featuring entrée salads and that can be a bit open-ended. Spaghetti isn’t a noodle I’d use for a pasta salad, but the recipe calls for no greens otherwise, so it’s not a salad-salad either. Further in the recipe, it clarifies that spaghetti is actually “buckwheat spaghetti” which I am going to assume means some sort of soba noodle, and the ingredients include soy sauce, sesame oil, and rice wine vinegar, so the flavor profile leans Asian.

With all of this in mind, I decided to flip it to a more composed noodle dish where the soba noodles get tossed in a nutty-umami sauce for a glossy finish, and then topped with poached chicken and roasted carrots. I think if you used another hearty vegetable (winter squash, turnips, cabbage?) it would be just as delicious.

Soba Noodles with Poached Chicken & Roasted Carrots