Tofu Salad: Surprisingly Incredible

I bought a few blocks of tofu a couple of weeks ago, saw this recipe in my Moosewood Restaurant New Classics cookbook, felt skeptical, but decided to go for it anyway since I already had nearly every ingredient. Good choice.

Tofu Salad

1 cake firm tofu
1 Tbsp vegetable oil
2 tsp soy sauce
1 1/2 tsp fresh lemon juice
3 Tbsp light or white miso
3 Tbsp prepared tahini
1/3 cup mayonnaise
2 Tbsp dijon mustard
1 1/2 cups peeled and grated carrots
1 1/2 cups diced red bell peppers (red were too expensive; got green instead)
1 1/2 cups diced celery
1/3 cup chopped scallions
1 Tbsp chopped fresh parsley, basil, or dill (used the basil right off the plant! yes!)

Crumble the tofu. Heat the oil in a non-stick or heavy skillet on medium-high heat. Add the tofu and cook, stirring constantly, until the tofu becomes dry and shrinks slightly, about 5 minutes. Stir in the soy sauce and fresh lemon juice and cook for 1 minute. Remove from the heat and set aside to cook for at least 10 minutes.



Meanwhile, whisk together the miso, tahini, mayonnaise, and mustard in a mixing bowl.



Add the carrots, bell peppers, celery, scallions, fresh herbs, and cooled tofu. Allow the flavors to meld for 15 minutes or more and then add salt and pepper to taste.



This salad is fantastic. I can't wait to try it as a sandwich very soon. Also good straight up, right out of the bowl. It took a while to put it all together, and the sauce was a little hard to integrate (honestly, I ended up mushing it all together with my hands to get the sauce to spread evenly between the tofu and veggies), but definitely one I'll make again.

Also, the incredible view from my kitchen today:



What a beautiful, relaxing, cooking-filled weekend.