Tofu salad with snow peas and baby bok choy
My university years began for me a period in my life when I categorically refused to eat meat or fish. It all started with a book that I know would send me right back to vegetarianism if I were to read it again. After many years, my mind has conveniently forgotten what I had read long ago. And I'm just not ready to pick the book up again. Ignorance is not necessarily bliss, but it does help one enjoy the pleasures of a roasted chicken, for example.
My family was mystified by my decision and for the 6 years that I maintained my vegetarianism they would still regularly offer me a sausage, or some salmon, whenever I would come to visit. There were no special meals made for me, only a funny look that said "are you kidding with this vegetarian thing?" I knew they weren't doing it to be cruel. It was just a meat loving family's inability to understand how I could say no to a juicy, perfectly cooked steak. They would look down at my plate, empty but for a pile of corn and a few potatoes, thinking I'd completely lost my mind. While I was entirely content. Creamed corn and roasted potatoes! It was better than anything I was eating at school.
Well after 6 years, they finally got their wish. After a great deal of pacing and soul-searching, I succumbed to an overwhelming desire to eat tuna from a can. And it all went downhill from there. I opened a new can every day for about 2 weeks, and gobbled it up with guilty pleasure. I'm sure my mercury levels were soaring.
And for me, it was all or nothing. (I am the same way with a tube of Pringles, which is why it's better for me just to keep my distance altogether). In my mind, I wasn't a vegetarian if I ate fish. But I had. And now, there was nothing stopping me.
Admittedly, I gained alot from the experience of being vegetarian. I learned I could do it, for one thing. And I still feel a certain disappointment in myself for not being able to maintain the willpower that had kept me going for so many years. I do often wonder if I will find my way back to vegetarianism again someday. But for now, this is who I am. A vegetarian who eats meat and fish.
On a less self-reflective note, I also now have a love of tofu that just won't die. I could just as easily enjoy a pot of chili made with tofu "ground beef" as I could with real beef. In fact, with all this mad cow business going around I rarely buy real beef at all anymore. And I know my boyfriend would roll his eyes and say that the incident rates are so low that it shouldn't stop me from buying beef. But perhaps it's just the surpressed vegetarian in me happy to have a reason to find my way back one step at a time.
But, quite often I do get a craving to buy that pasty-white, bland looking block of tofu that turns so many people off. But you have to think of it like a potato. Which isn't very exciting on it's own, but has so many possibilities.
Well as you can see, I was recently struck with that tofu craving. And since I devoted this week to Salads, I made a Tofu salad with Snow Peas and Baby Bok Choy. It made me very happy. And just to up the pretty factor, I sprinkled black AND white sesame seeds on the salad. You might think it looks more like a stir-fry, but work with me here!
baby bok choy
If you like the idea for this salad, hopefully you will just make it your own and improve on it. But I will provide the details to get you started.
Tofu Salad with Snow Peas and Bok Choy
Tofu Salad to serve one contained:
Firm tofu (1/2 block) *see note below
Snow peas(about 8)
baby bok choy (4 stalks)
green onions (1 tablespoon)
sesame seeds (a pinch of white and pinch of black)
Dressing
2 tablespoons soy sauce
1 teaspoon fish sauce
1 teaspoon sesame oil
1 teaspoon sweet chili sauce *
Stir to combine
*next time I will increase the chili sauce to 2 teaspoons to thicken the sauce further.
The snow peas and bok choy were blanched until softened and then moved to a bowl of cold water to stop them from cooking further. Then I placed them on paper towel to drain. You may need to squeeze the water out of the bok choy leaves. The bok choy was then chopped into one inch chunks approximately.
Mix your dressing ingredients together and toss with the vegetables. Add tofu and toss again. Sprinkly with sliced green onions and sesame seeds if desired.
Note on the tofu: I fried my tofu in a heavy pot with just about an inch or so of peanut oil. (just enough to cover my tofu slices) I have no thermometers, I just wait until the oil starts to make some noise then I throw in the tofu. After a few minutes, when it is slightly golden as in the picture, I take it out and let it drain on paper towel. Do the tofu in batches, do not overcrowd the pot. I love the texture that comes with frying the tofu, it gives it a bit of a crunchy exterior, and some may find the colour is more appealing to the eye. It's actually quite good to just eat tofu this way dipped in sweet chili sauce. No kidding.
Note on the baby bok choy: the stems of the bok choy were a bit soft and wilted when I bought it, but since I was cooking them it didn't matter, and in fact it reduced the amount of time I needed to blanch them.
This salad in fact, brings to a close my 5 day salad experience. Gold star for me. And thanks Tara for keeping me enthused along the way! Labels: Heidelberg, recipes, tofu, vegetarian
