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!
My dinner seems like compost compared to this. I need to step up my game. This looks amazing!
I would love to share it with you. I eat crappy food during the days that I work. In fact I eat leftovers that I wouldn't feed to a dog most of those days.
Thanks a million @anaclark and hello from Montreal!
Oh! Looking so good! One big plate here! Please!
Coming your way!
Looks super tasty! I like to have some substance like tofu and/or nuts in a salad or it just makes me more hungry :) This gives me some inspiration to try some new recipes. BBQ tofu hmmm yummy I'm impressed with all your ingredients
Thank you @chrisinphuket I appreciate that and nice to hear from you.
Looking good 😋
Thank you very much @pung.senat!
Yummy...😋.Not only recipe, the above mentioned photos too look nice.👌
Very nice of you to say thank you very much @pravilsabu!
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WoW! Darling, this is Heaven food! Food of the Gods!
PS
I just woke up. Would you please come to make me a breakfast? 😃
You always make me craving. 😍
Aww thanks you do too!!!
That looks sooo good! Very well done! I eat tofu very frequently and love it but I never have the patience to really marinate it. But your homemade barbecue sauce sounds so good I think I might have to give that a try and use it for tofu
Really well done. And the presentation is so good! Great work!
ps i don’t know how you have edamame beans in your freezer and don’t eat them.. I can’t get enough of those things
Oh myyyy
That looks so good
And now I have a recipe for homemade bbq sauce too :D
Oh thank you @kaerpediem. This was just me throwing in some common ingredients for bbq sauce. My boss makes his with so many ingredients he won't give out the recipe. I think mine was almost as good haha.
Another gorgeous dish that I so wish I could have tasted, the flavours sounds amazing and it looks fabulous as well!
We went to a pre-wedding function of an Indian friend's daughter and I had two helpings of the Tofu curry, it was divine! So I can fully understand this dish of yours must have been really good!
You just made me want a tofu curry now. Oh boy. I would have loved to have eaten at an Indian function.
Thanks so much @lizelle!
Love this recipe, that barbecue sauce sounds amazing. I love tofu, my go to marinate is tamari, sesame seeds, garlic, cumin and coconut sugar xxxxxx
Yes tamari is an awesome marinade. I must try sesame seed though. Sounds perfect. Thanks so much @trucklife-family!
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This dish I would like to eat right now! Looks absolutely delicious 🤤 keep it some for my birthday 😉. Well done my friend!
Happy birthday my dear friend! I would love to celebrate with you. Thank you for your nice words!
Nicely cooked and beautiful post
I really appreciate your comment @pankajkabdwal. Thank you!
Oh wow! I also make BBQ from sundried tomatoes and I already have recipe on my blog and even video that I still need to process. However, I neve though using alcohol as one of the ingredients. I bet it must add quite delicious flavour!
I am also planning to make chocolate cake with liquor, but I am just going to use rum flavor for baking, so my grandsons can eat it too.
Anyway, this meal is definitely delicious, as always 💚😘👌
Thank you Lena. I am not an expert at bbq sauce but all I had was sundried tomatoes at the time and a little tomato paste. Improvisation. I am sure you know what I mean. My boss makes bbq sauce in a large batch with 2 large bottles of rum and a large can of beer. He doesn't even drink haha.
Another homerun!! You know you did when rice is nowhere in site and I'm still very interested. This salad has got so much going on that it stands on its own as a full meal. Delicious!!
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Thank you @justinparke I really didn't need rice this time. But I am about to have some now. I couldn't live in a world without rice haha.
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Your food are always make me feel hungry even when I am full. I would love to try it someday.
I wish someday I can eat in your families new restaurant!