Tuesday, October 14, 2014

Thai Style Tofu Salad

With left over Summer vegetables

DSC_5002Some Summers, we don’t get good crops from our garden for various reasons and this past Summer fell into that ‘some’ year category. We are bit bummed about that. The only half-way decent yield we got was tomatoes. My favorite cherry tomato variety ‘Sweet 100’ was not bad yet in my opinion it got up to only 85…oh come on!IMG_1974  

A vegan meal night over the blue moon, the petite tomatoes support this Thai salad’s weight well. We may be carnivores but today, we enjoyed a bowl full of greens. The small changes were made on the recipe from a book Vibrant Food by Kimberley Hasselbrink.You will fall in love with her photographs.

Ingredients and Instruction for 4 servings (Print Recipe Here)

  • 1 (16-ounce) package extra-firm tofu, drained

For marinade

  • 1/4 cup low sodium tamari soy sauce
  • 2 Tablespoons rice vinegar
  • 2 Tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
  • 2 Tablespoons roasted red chili paste ( I used Tobanjan soy paste)
  • 2 teaspoons sugar

For the dressing

  • 2 limes
  • 4 Tablespoons tamari soy sauce
  • 2 Tablespoons olive oil or sesame oil
  • 4 Tablespoons brown sugar
  • 1/4 to 1/2 teaspoons red pepper flakes

For the greens – practically anything but here are some suggestions. It does not have to be exact measurements.

  • Cherry tomatoes, halved 1-2 cups
  • Okura, thinly sliced about 1/2 cup
  • Sugar snap peas, sliced 1 cup – I cooked in salted  boiling water for 1 minute, drained then plunged in ice cold water. It can be raw if you prefer.
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  • Cucumber, cubed 1 cup
  • Fresh mint  leaves, roughly chopped 1/4 cup
  • Fresh basil leaves, roughly chopped 1/4 cup
  • Butter lettuce, torn 3-4 cups
  • Cilantro leaves and blossoms for garnish Option: white radish sprouts is great too.
  • 1 small Thai red chili, seeded and thinly sliced for garnish
  1. Place the tofu on a cutting board and weight it with another cutting board (or heavy plate) on top to extract water from tofu for 30 minutes.DSC_4973
  2. While the tofu is pressing, make marinade sauce – In a medium bowl, whisk together the tamari, rice vinegar, olive oil, red chili paste and sugar until the sugar is dissolved and smooth. Note: I put everything in a zip lock bag, closed tight then massaged the bag. DSC_4976
  3. Dry the pressed tofu with paper towel and cut into 1-inch cubes. Put into the bowl or zip-lock bag of marinade. Toss gently to coat. Cover with plastic sheet (if using the bowl). Lay flat (if using bag). Refrigerate at least 1 hour. Turn over once in a while to evenly marinated.
    DSC_4981
  4. Meanwhile make dressing – Zest 1 lime, put in the small bowl. Cut the lime you just zested and another lime in half and squeeze the juice out and add to the bowl. Add rest of dressing ingredients to the bowl and whisk until the brown sugar has dissolved. Set aside.DSC_4985
  5. Combine the greens except cilantro and Thai red chili. Toss with about 2/3 of dressing. Serve the remaining dressing on the side. Chill in the refrigerator until needed.
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  6. Set oven for broi.l Arrange the tofu in a single layer on a lightly oiled small baking sheet discarding marinade sauce. Broil for 15- 18 minutes. turning every 3 minutes until deeply browned.DSC_4986
  7. Place greens on plate, top with tofu and garnish with fresh cilantro leaves and Thai red chili.DSC_5000DSC_4996

Vestiges of the past Summer….  late comer fig…what took you so long?DSC_5030Black Plum tomatoes has good flavor and gorgeous color though I feel like I have to spit it out its thick skin…good news is that because of tough skin, it withstands bugs, mold and other diseases.DSC_5031The seedless watermelon stayed small. DSC_5004What the heck! It was not seedless?DSC_5036Second year thornless, bushy ‘Raspberry short cake’ variety tasted better than previous year.IMG_1935The roses…released pleasant scents all Summer long…really sweet..DSC_5027

The weekend blessing…My husband’s take on Saldkay Bulochaka by Cooking Melangery…everything on her blog is like wow!DSC_5010

He tweaked her recipe a little bit so it looks different…still nice. I often hand him the wish list…printed recipes from other food bloggers…A man in training I guess…try not to surpass the master…k?

19 comments:

  1. What a beautiful end-of-the summer plate! I first thought it was smoked tofu (have you ever had it? I wonder if it's not a European invention, but I love it!), but it's the marinade that gives this beautiful hue!
    The sweet treats look delicious and sound very mysterious. Your husband is very talented!

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    1. Thank you Sissi. We will have left over for dinner this evening but after I saw your shoyu chicken, I would love to have that.
      Smoked tofu? Interesting.

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  2. Very lovely end of summer salad and healthy too. Blessings, Catherine

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    1. Thank you Catherine. Happy Anniversary to you. I definitely try your apple tart.

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  3. Love those pretty petite tomatoes! This is definitely my kind of meal.

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  4. I can just imagine how flavourful that tofu is:) Brilliant salad...I want some please and of course the sweet dessert too;P
    BTW, how do you plant a seedless watermelon if it got no seed??

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    1. Thank you Annie. I hope your home and garden projects are near the finish line.
      Ha ha ha, I know sounds weird right? I think that's the magic of seedless watermelon.

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  5. Lovely photos! and I love salads! :)

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    1. Thank you so much! I'm so glad to discovered your fabulous blog.

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  6. OMG, your broiled tofu looks amazing! Great idea!

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    Replies
    1. Thank you so much Jalna. I'm glad you can watch TV again. You're so funny and wonderful!

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  7. Damn delicious tangy tofu salad!!!
    worth to try recipe, great job my friend...

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    1. Thank you Master Chef! Amazed by your foods always! I love to cook like you seriously!

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  8. この豆腐サラダ、やってみます!オーブンで豆腐を焼くのってアメリカ風~。たまにレシピを見つけてはやってみようと思いながら、すっかり忘れてました。サラダにするのはかなり美味しそうで、楽しみです。

    ご主人、さっすがー!Yelenaの作るものも写真も凄いですよね。ご主人の作ったの本当に良くできてますね。いいなぁ、食べに行きたい!夫婦そろってお料理上手で羨ましいご夫婦ですね。<3

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    1. ありがとう! 料理上手な主人なので、なかなか痩せないという悩みもあるんですよ。 というか、食べるの大好き! なみちゃん、何食べても肥らないみたいだわ、うらやましい!

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  9. Grazie per visitando il mio blog. Grazie mille!

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