This is my entry for the plant based cooking challenge #3 which offers the choices of ingredients including tofu, cauliflower, and spinach, or the sweeter choices of durian, coconut or grapes.
I had to chose what was available to me which was spinach and tofu which I always have. Cauliflower was a ridiculous price the last time I looked. As for the fruits well durian is worth it's weight in gold here in Canada and I am not seeing nice grapes these days. The coconut was a standby in my mind but I opted out.
I have been wanting to redeem myself a bit, from eating quite a bit of glutenous pasta and bread. I needed a break so this time it had to be a salad.
Marc would not stand for just a salad so I had to turn it into a meal.
The salad would be mixed up greens with a lot of spinach and the addition of quinoa which has been staring at me every time I open the cupboard. I put tofu on the salad to finish it off.
I started by marinating the tofu for a few hours. People that hate tofu usually have had it without any flavor absorbed into it.
I covered it with a vegetable broth which I usually make but this time I used a cube and water. Along with the broth I added a tablespoon of homemade barbecue sauce.
The sauce was made with mostly soaked sundried tomatoes.
Barbecue sauce
2 cups of soaked sundried tomatoes
2 tablespoons tomato paste
4 cloves garlic
2 tablespoons molasses
1/8 cup balsamic vinegar
1/8 cup cider vinegar
1/4 cup soy sauce
1/4 cup maple syrup
3 tablespoons cane sugar
Juice of one lemon
Juice of a lime
1 teaspoon liquid smoke
1 teaspoon pepper
1 teaspoon chili powder
1 teaspoon cumin
1 teaspoon oregano
1 teaspoon thyme
1/2 teaspoon smoked paprika
1/2 teaspoon clove powder
3 teaspoons of salt or to taste
Cook the mix in a sauce pan then blend until smooth.
I just added these amounts randomly. Barbecue sauce can be much simpler or with quite a few more and different ingredients. It often has bourbon or rum or beer or a combination. I didn't have any of those so I splashed in a bit of cooking sherry that was given to me. I don't even know what to do with cooking sherry in a plant based recipe.
The tofu was drained of the broth then coated with barbecue sauce. Set the broth aside.
After adding the tofu to a hot pan, I added enough broth that was aside, to keep it from getting too dry and cooked out the liquid on simmer.
The main greens were spinach. I can always get a deal on organic spinach.
I also used up some edamame which I had frozen.
I never really use much of edamame so I am no expert on how to prepare it. I just added it to boiling water and took it out after a few minutes so it didn't cook too much.
I also cooked a cup up quinoa to toss in. I just boiled 2 cups of water a pinch of salt and added the quinoa, stirring on a low simmer until the liquid was soaked up.
For the salad I added a basic vinaigrette of olive oil and balsamic vinegar, salt and pepper. I lightly coated the edamame and the greens.
I used spring mix and Boston lettuce along with a load of spinach.
I wasn't sure if I would keep the quinoa on the side but at the end I threw it all together.
I garnished it with red onion, tomatoes, carrots and cucumbers.
When eating a fully loaded salad you may be surprised at how full you can get. You don't feel overloaded like if you ate something heavy.
Have a great day evening or night folks!