Serves 4
Darkly glazed peppered tofu crisps are hidden in this warm salad. Although this is a cooked salad, it should be served right away; it tastes best warm, plus its colors grow dingy if it sits around.
Dressing
- 3 tablespoons balsamic vinegar
- 2 tablespoons rice wine vinegar
- 3 tablespoons light soy sauce
- 2 tablespoons dark sesame oil
- 1 tablespoon light sesame or peanut oil
- 1 teaspoon dark miso
- 1 teaspoon dry mustard
- 1 teaspoon brown sugar
-
1/8
teaspoon salt
Salad
- 1 small red onion, thinly sliced
- 1 large yellow bell pepper, sliced about
1/4
-inch thick
- 5 cups thinly sliced red cabbage
- 1 to 2 cups snow peas, stems and strings removed
- 1 cup fresh or frozen peas
- 2 scallions, including some of the greens, thinly sliced into rounds
- 3 tablespoons chopped cilantro
- 1 tablespoon toasted black sesame seeds
- Make the peppered tofu crisps and set them aside.
- Whisk dressing ingredients together, making sure the miso is completely blended.
- Heat one-fourth of the dressing in a wide skillet over high heat. Add onion and yellow pepper and cook briskly, stirring often until softened, about 4 minutes. Remove to a plate. Return skillet to heat and add cabbage. Drizzle over about two-thirds of the remaining dressing and cook, turning frequently, until cabbage has softened but still retains its bright color, about 4 minutes. Add snow peas and pod peas during the last minute and turn off heat.
- Heat the remaining dressing in a small skillet. Add tofu and turn briskly in the dressing until glazed. It will be quite dark. Add it to the cabbage and toss a few times to mix it in.
- Mound cabbage and tofu on a large plate and garnish with peppers, onions, scallions, cilantro and sesame seeds. Serve.
From the book This Can’t Be Tofu! by Deborah Madison, ©2000 by Deborah Madison, published by Broadway Books, a division of Random House, Inc.
Click here for the original article, This Can’t Be Tofu.