Wasabi baked tofu with brown rice & cashew nut stir fry
Something about this vegan-friendly meal has a real detoxifying feel to it. Along with being full of goodness, it’s also extremeley flavoursome.
Tofu
- Slice up the tofu (or cut them in chunks if you prefer a meatier texture) and place it on foil.
- For the marinade: mix together chopped spring onions, soy sauce, and as much wasabi as your nostrils can handle.
- Pour the marinade on top of the tofu and then bake it in the oven for 20 minutes, or until the tofu has gotten crispy. Flip the tofu and cook for a little bit longer so that the other side is also crisp. **
Stir fry
On a heated skillet, stir fry garlic and spring onions. In terms of quantity, the Chinese thrive on the flavour of spring onions so use as much as possible. After a few minutes, add in the cashews (I halved them) and your favourite assortment of vegetables. For ideas, I used:
*shredded cabbage
*diced carrots
*mushrooms
*broccoli
*baby corn
Once they are cooked, add in soy sauce (and 2 teaspoons of teriyaki sauce if you have any in) and a few more spring onions.
**I find that baking tofu gives it a nicer and crispier texture compared to stir frying
Tofu fried quinoa
Quinoa seems to be grain that’s in fashion these days. Although it looks a bit like bird seeds in its raw state, it tastes delicious once cooked. It’s also full of minerals and great for vegetarians as it contains more protein than any other grain. At the risk of sounding like a walking advert for quinoa, I also want to point out that it’s gluten-free, and therefore great for those who are wheat-intolerant.
Coat a fry pan with cooking spray. Once it is heated, add in spring onions and garlic, and sauté for about 2 minutes. Then add in pieces of tofu, carrots, green beans, and mushrooms. Sautee this for about 4-5 minutes until the tofu is cooked through. Stir in cooked quinoa, peas and soy sauce until it is heated through.
Sushi salad bowl with baked tofu
This is basically sushi without all that rolling jazz. One of my really good friends who is a vegetarian LOVES sushi! I never understood this, purely because the idea of vegetarian sushi just seems tragic without the fish. Although I got to say, the tofu makes a mean protein alternative and I didn’t miss the salmon/tuna which I would usually opt for.
Tofu:
- Marinade it in your sauce of preference, I used a mixture of sweet chilli sauce and soy sauce. Bake it in the oven to give it a crispy texture (see the recipe above for how to do so)
Brown rice:
- Once cooked, mix it with vinegar (preferably rice vinegar but both normal or white wine vinegar will work). This will give the rice a flavour and texture similar to sushi.
Vegetables:
- mushrooms (stir fried)
- broccoli (blanched)
- diced carrots (blanched)
- diced pepper
- cucumber sticks
- chopped scallions (the green bit)
- avocado (if you’re a fan- I’m not)
- nori sheet (crumbled)
Mix it all together, sprinkle sesame seeds on top and then refrigerate. Enjoy with wasabi, soy sauce, and ginger if you like (bleh again!).
