Flavorful, fast, and simple salad that allows the rainbow of fruits and veggies to shine through. Salads require minimal cooking (great for 100+ degree summers) and are extremely customizable. This sauce for the tofu is also a great way to use leftover peanut sauce from spring rolls!
Ingredients:
1 block of firm tofu
1/2 head of romaine lettuce (choose your favorite salad bed!)
Handful of baby spinach
1 tomato
3 Persian cucumbers (Trader Joe's are always the best)
2 mandarin orange cups
1/2 an apple
Trader Joe's "Everything But the Bagel" Seasoning
(Peanut sauce for the tofu)
1/3 cup peanut butter
1/4 cup hoison sauce
3 tbsp soy sauce
1 tbsp miso paste (optional)
2 tbsp cornstarch
Dash of sesame seeds
Dash of salt, nutritional yeast, onion powder, paprika
(Other great additions)
Fresh or frozen corn
Avocado cubes
Toasted nuts (almond slivers, walnuts)
Baked chickpeas w/ cumin
Grilled onion
Sun-dried tomatoes
Directions:
(Prep) Cut the tofu into thirds (hamburger style) and squeeze as much liquid out as you can. (applying even pressure helps keep the tofu from crumbling too much) Wrap the tofu in paper towels and place something heavy on top for at least 5 minutes, preferably longer.
Slice and dice all of salad ingredients (yay! no cooking required)
Cut the tofu into bite-sized cubes. If the pieces are smaller, then the tofu will have more texture and be slightly crispier. If the pieces are larger, then the tofu will have a wider range of textures (crisp edges and soft inside). I usually switch off between the two for variety, or cut the cubes smaller if I am running short on time.
In a bowl, mix together the cornstarch and all the seasonings. Add the tofu and toss to coat. Lay the tofu pieces on an air fryer tray and bake at 400 for 10 minutes (this helps remove some more moisture and improves tofu's texture in my opinion).
Mix together the peanut sauce ingredients. (you can sub in leftover peanut sauce for the peanut butter and hoison sauce).
Heat a medium pan on high heat and once the pan it hot, add the sauce. It should start bubbling away immediately, and at this point, add in the baked tofu. Stir to combine and add a sprinkle of sesame seeds. If the sauce it too thin, cook it for a few minutes longer. If the sauce is too thick, add some water or veggie broth.
(Assemble) Add all of the salad ingredients to a bowl and dress the salad with the Sesame-Soy Vinaigrette. Add the peanut tofu on top, sprinkle with Trader Joe's "Everything But the Bagel" Seasoning, and enjoy your delicious and refreshing salad!
Notes:
I recently started paying attention to how long it actually takes for me to cook so I can better plan my day (also yikes, school is starting soon), and by consciously working quickly, this recipe took 30 minutes!
For maximum time saving, I usually focus on the tofu, and switch between prepping the rest of the salad ingredients when the tofu is drying, or marinating, or cooking.
Sometimes, it is difficult to make tofu in different ways, but so far I have 3 different approaches on the blog & I am experimenting with more
1 - Crispy and classic - pan frying the tofu is usually a crowd-favorite (like this Hoison-Soy Tofu)
2 - Star of the meal - soaking the tofu for a long time (like in this Five-Spiced Braised Tofu) gives the tofu itself a lot of flavor and allows it to stand up to the role you typically expect meat to fill
3 - Flavorful alternative - (this post) I usually take this approach sometimes during lunch because it is super fast because you focus on a great sauce instead of infusing the tofu itself with flavor. This results in a contrasting tofu experience where you can enjoy great aspects of how tofu naturally exists.
Today I also learned that I should really try cooking for the blog during lunch time because you really can't beat the sun in terms of good lighting
Source recipe: I added ingredients to leftover peanut sauce and liked how it turned out!
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