It’s a really good salad if your ‘not so salads loving’ partner wants to devour it all. This aromatic pesto fried tofu salad is a refreshing and flavorsome dish that combines the goodness of crispy tofu with a fragrant homemade pesto sauce and crisp vegetables. It comes together within 25 minutes and tastes amazing. Perfect for a light lunch or dinner, this salad is not only satisfying but also a great way to incorporate protein-rich tofu into your meal. Make sure you save it for later.
🍽 Serves 3 🕘 25 minutes Difficulty: Beginner
Ingredients:
1 package of firm tofu
½ cup of basil leaves
1 Tbsp of olive oil
2 tsp of vegan parmesan (optional)
Salt to taste
170g of marinated artichoke
¼ cup of pine nuts
2 cups of spinach
1 punnet of cherry tomatoes Garnish:
Basil
Lemon juice
Extra-virgin olive oil/ Avocado oil to fry the tofu
Instructions:
Prepare the ingredients. Start by pressing the tofu to remove excess moisture. Once pressed, cut the tofu into small cubes. Cut the cherry tomatoes into quarters, drain the artichoke.
Heat olive oil in a large pan over medium heat. Add the tofu pieces to the pan and fry for about 3-4 minutes on each side, or until they turn golden brown and crispy.
Using a mortar and pestle or a food processor/blender, blitz together basil leaves and a splash of olive oil and salt to taste. If the pesto is too thick, you can add more olive oil to achieve the desired consistency.
Once the tofu is almost ready, add pine nuts and fry for a few more minutes until both ingredients are golden brown.
Incorporate the pesto sauce over the fried tofu, toss to coat in the frying pan, and remove from the heat.
Assemble the salad: In a large salad bowl, place spinach, cherry tomatoes, tofu and pine nuts, and artichoke.
Serve topped with basil and a drizzle of lemon juice.
Enjoy!
