Soba Noodles with grilled Miso Abalone mushroom

Finally a food post! I'll admit this one has been on the backlog for posting but with all the travel it's been very difficult to get back on track.

In my quest towards a healthy low calorie lunch box I was inspired with my previous use of soba noodles and Abalone mushrooms (King Oyster). Here I aimed to use the mushrooms as my protein and grill it to give a visual appeal of grilled tenderloin. The meaty texture of the mushroom is often used to substitute for animal protein and it's also a huge savings on calories.

Here's a shot of the ingredients used.  (see recipe below for explanation)

I cut the mushrooms into 3/4" thick rounds and marinaded them over night. The abalone mushrooms give the dish a nice meat-y texture without all of the calories. I let the mushrooms marinade overnight hoping to have the mushroom really get some of the flavor and maybe draw out some of the moisture with the use of the miso and salt.

I then grilled the mushrooms on a grill pan with the green onions to give it some color. Since there was no raw meat involved I used the leftover marinade to baste the mushrooms while I grilled them. The mushrooms came out beautifully, but be warned that the marinade was really hard to clean off the grill pan.

The noodles were cooked according to package and tossed with a light dressing. This recipe is vegetarian (and depending on where you stand on honey, vegan in some definitions. I suppose you could substitute with sugar if you wanted). Not too bad for 350 calories!

Edit: Oh wow, I just noticed, this was my 300th post.

Recipe:

Soba Noodles with grilled Miso Abalone Mushroom 

8 ounces uncooked soba (buckwheat noodles)
12 ounces Abalone/King Oyster Mushroom cut into 3/4" rounds
4 green onions (greens chopped keeping white stem intact)
Marinade:
2 tablespoons white miso (soybean paste)
2 tablespoons water
1 tablespoon rice vinegar
1 teaspoon honey, divided
1 teaspoon grated peeled fresh ginger
1 teaspoon minced garlic
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
Dressing:
2 teaspoons dark sesame oil
1 teaspoon fresh lime juice
1 teaspoon sesame seeds 

1. Combine miso, water, vinegar, honey, ginger, garlic, salt and pepper in a small bowl, stirring with a whisk until smooth.
2. Toss marinade with abalone mushroom rounds and store in a plastic bag for at least 8 hours up to overnight.
3. Cook noodles according to package directions; drain. Rinse with cold water; drain.
4. Combine Sesame oil and lime juice add toss with noodles. Sprinkle on sesame seed on top and toss.
5. Heat a grill pan over medium high heat. Coat pan with cooking spray. Grill mushrooms in one layer 3 mins per side until mushrooms are soft. Grill onions until wilted. Baste the mushrooms with marinade while grilling.
6. Plate noodles with grilled mushroom and onion. 

Nutritional Information (from one of those calculator things)
Serves 4
Amount per serving
Calories: 353 Fat: 4.5g Saturated fat: 0.5g Monounsaturated fat: 1.3g Polyunsaturated fat: 1.4g Protein: 26.5g Carbohydrate: 59g Fiber: 5g Cholesterol: 107mg Iron: 2mg Sodium: 646mg Calcium: 77mg