Salad w/ Tofu & Sweet Potato Quinoa
This vegan breakfast salad recipe is hearty, healthy, and flavorful way to start the day! Perpetually amazed by how delicious both tofu and salads can be, this is one of my favorite go-to meals. It combines sweet potatoes, garlic, shallots, lemons, bay leaves, tri-color quinoa, tofu, avocados, and homegrown lettuce, tomatoes, bell peppers, banana peppers, jalapeños, and habaneros. Plus hot sauce for good measure!
Equipment
- Skillet
- Stovetop
- Paper Towels
Ingredients
Sweet Potato Quinoa
- 1 sweet potato diced
- 1 tomato diced
- 1 red bell pepper diced
- 2 banana peppers diced
- 1 jalapeño minced
- 2 habaneros minced
- 3 cloves garlic minced
- 1/2 shallot minced
- 1 lemon juiced
- 3 bay leaves
- 1 tsp. cumin
- dash salt
- dash pepper
- 1 c. tri-color quinoa
- 3 c. water
Tofu Salad
- 1 serving sweet potato quinoa
- 7 oz extra firm tofu (~1/2 container per person)
- 2 tbsp high heat oil
- ½ lettuce chopped
- 2 tbsp avocado sliced
- dash salt
- dash pepper
- 1 tsp hot sauce (optional)
Instructions
Make Quinoa
- Prepare the Quinoa w/ Sweet Potato & Garden Vegetables. This takes about an hour and requires a rice cooker. Although you can easily substitute whatever vegetables you have on hand. This is a great recipe to make wanting to have leftovers that will easily carry over to other dishes.
Fry Tofu
- Drain the tofu and cut in quarters if you're using a container. 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, 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.
Assemble Salad
- Chop the lettuce and avocados.
- Lay down a bed of lettuce and avocado. Sprinkle with salt and pepper to taste. Top with tofu. Add finishing salt/pepper and drizzle with a little bit of hot sauce.
Tips, Tricks, & Notes
- For a more in-depth article on preparing tofu, check out my article on The Fundamentals of Fried Tofu. High heat oil and a precise cooking temperature are important to keep the tofu from drying out or burning.