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Salad w/ Quinoa, Mini Potatoes, & Avocado

Salad w/ Quinoa, Mini Potatoes, & Avocado

This Quinoa Salad consists of lightly fried tofu, miniature potatoes, shredded carrots, avocado, green onions, shallots, garlic, olive oil, and tamari.
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Prep Time 15 minutes
Cook Time 1 hour
Resting Time 10 minutes
Total Time 1 hour 25 minutes
Course Salad, Side Dish
Cuisine Asian, Latin American
Servings 2 servings

Equipment

  • Rice Cooker
  • Skillet (preferably cast iron or wok)
  • Stovetop

Ingredients
  

Quinoa

  • 1 shallot minced
  • 1 clove garlic minced
  • dash cumin
  • dash coriander
  • dash smoked paprika
  • dash salt
  • dash pepper
  • 1 c. quinoa
  • 2 c. water

Salad

  • 1 lbs. tofu extra firm, cubed
  • 1/2 lbs. miniature gold potatoes cubed
  • 2 carrots shredded
  • 1 avocado sliced
  • 2 green onions sliced
  • 1 lime juiced
  • dash olive oil
  • dash tamari
  • dash salt
  • dash pepper

Instructions
 

Cook Quinoa

  • Add all of the ingredients into a rice cooker and press the cook button on the rice cooker. It should take about 45 minutes to cook.
  • When the quinoa is fully cooked, let sit for 10 minutes. Then, fluff with a wooden spoon.
    Do not use a fork or other metal utensil. It will scratch off the nonstick surface on the rice cooker. This will leach Teflon into your food and cause future dishes to stick to the bottom.

Fry Tofu

  • While the quinoa is cooking, drain the water out of the tofu and cut into cubes.
  • Wrap in paper towels to absorb the moisture.
    It's important to absorb as much water out of the tofu as you can. Oil is less dense than water, so the molecules repel one another. With cold ingredients, this causes separation. When you're frying at high temperatures, though, this can cause boiling hot oil to spray back at you.
  • Meanwhile, preheat oil in a cast iron skillet over medium-high heat.
  • When the skillet has preheated and the majority of the water has absorbed into the paper towels, carefully add the tofu to the skillet. Fry until golden brown. This should take about 2-4 minutes. Rotate until all sides are evenly fried.
  • Remove from heat and wrap again in paper towels to absorb the excess oil.

Cook Potatoes

  • Add potatoes to the same heated skillet.
  • Cook for 15-20 minutes, or until tender and lightly browned.
    Make sure to stir rather frequently. If it browns too quickly, add more oil and lower the temperature. If it doesn't brown quickly enough, increase the heat.

Assemble Salad

  • When the quinoa is fully cooked, add tofu, potatoes, rice vinegar, and tamari.
    Different brand of vinegar and tamari will have vastly different tastes. I recommend starting with a couple of tablespoons and then building up. These flavors will also seep in over time and become stronger the longer that it sits. So make sure not to add too much! Particularly if you aren't serving right away.
  • Fluff with a wooden spoon and serve.
    Do not use a fork or other metal utensil to fluff! It will scratch off the nonstick surface on the rice cooker. This will leach teflon into your food and cause future dishes to stick to the bottom.

Tips, Tricks, & Notes

  • While quinoa is not rice, it does cook the same and oftentimes better than rice in a rice cooker. It typically takes 30-45 minutes. Alternatively you can simmer on the stove. Add all of the ingredients to a pot, bring uncovered to a boil, lower heat to a simmer, and cook for about 15 minutes, or until the sweet potatoes and quinoa are tender. Turn off heat, add lid, and let sit another 5-10 minutes.
  • Any quinoa, or even other grain or legume, like lentils or rice, would substitute in this recipe without changing the ratio.