Moving is the worst right?! Not only is the packing and cleaning the pits but when you are moving more than a few miles down the road then your food comes into play too. You have to force yourself to be creative to use up the food that has been creeping in the corners of your fridge for ages and to de-thaw all the wonders from your freezer. Being a person who loves to cook this has been a nightmare! Not having fresh ingredients to use in every meal is killing me!!!!!!
But there was light at the end of the lame dinner tunnel tonight. After two weeks of cleaning out the fridge and freezer and part of the pantry it was time to just make a trip to the grocery store for a few days kitchen staples. I was craving a fresh healthy salad. So I grabbed some tofu and made a protein packed salad with hard boiled eggs and sunflower seeds. And it was delicious and didn't take more than 30 minutes from start to finish :)
I'll tell you everything I included at the end of my post but right now lets focus on the tofu part....mmmmmm!
Okay, now I know a TON of people are thinking..."Tofu, eww I'm not eating that!" But in reality, tofu is a blank canvas that you can turn into anything your heart desires. It can be used in so many ways you would be surprised. My meat lover husband even likes it as a meat substitute every once in a while!
Here is the tofu I love to cook with! Now to keep the tofu's spongy texture it has to sit in liquid. You have to drain as much as the liquid as you can before you cook with it.
1. Take the tofu out of the container and place on a plate with a paper towel underneath the tofu to help absorb the liquid. Then place another plate on top of the tofu and then a can on top to give some weight to the tofu to help squeeze out as much liquid as possible.
2. Let it sit like this for 20 minutes, changing the paper towel mid-way at 10 minutes. This is also a great time to get your other toppings ready for the rest of your salad ;)
3. After your tofu has sat for 20 minutes you can start cooking it!
4. Cut the tofu in half like a hamburger bun. Then cut each half in half and then cut 1/2 inch strips.
5. Next, transfer the tofu to a plastic baggie and pour in 1/2 cup of corn starch. Seal the bag and shake well making sure all the tofu pieces are covered. The tofu is still going to be moist so the corn starch will stick to it without adding additional liquid.
6. In a pan on medium heat, add a little bit of olive oil, no more than 1 tbsp. to keep it healthy, and wait until it gets warm. Add the tofu. Each side should take about 5 minutes each to get a nice brownish color and get a crispy exterior.
7. After both sides of the tofu have cooked and have gotten crispy, turn off the heat. Then add your toasted sesame dressing. Since the pan will still be hot, the dressing will fuse to the tofu giving it an even more crispier exterior! It is just so delicious.
I forgot to measure how much I added but if I had to guess I would say about 1/2 cup....haha but honestly you can be the judge. Add a little at first and you will notice it will disappear quickly so just keep adding some until you notice the dressing sitting in the pan without sizzling away! (Great instructions right?! But seriously its just one of those ingredients that you add and know when to stop)
Prep time: 25 minutes
Cook time: 12 minutes
Serving Size: 4 people
Ingredients:
1 package of tofu
1/2 cup corn starch
1 tbsp. olive oil
1/2 cup or so of toasted sesame dressing
This is a very high protein, super healthy salad without adding any meat! Can you believe it? So here is what I put on my salad:
Romaine lettuce
Corn
Red Bell Pepper
1 hard boiled egg
Sunflower seeds
6 pieces of tofu
Enjoy :)