Asian Style Salad with Marinated Tofu & Toasted Cashews

Learn how to make a delicious, filling meal size salad from scratch!

Marinate the tofu and make the dressing the night, morning, or at least 30 minutes before cooking the toppings. Keep the ingredients out — they use a lot of the same bottles from the back of your cupboard.

Marinated Tofu

Chop 1 lb of tofu

Marinate in:

• 1/4 cup soy sauce / braggs/ coconut aminos
• 1/4 cup rice vinegar
• 1/4 inch to 1/2 inch nub of ginger, grated or minced
• 2-4 cloves garlic
• 1 tsp sesame oil

You can do this in a reused plastic bag, or just chuck it in a container and shake it up every now and then. A mason jar works great too! Just remember to shake it up every now and then to ensure good coverage.

Asian Style Dressing

• 1 cup oil (sunflower, canola, peanut, up to half EVOO)
• ½ cup rice vinegar
• 2-4 TBSP of sweet stuff (agave/local honey/brown sugar/coconut sugar)
• 1-2 TBSP soy sauce/braggs/coconut aminos
• 1 tsp Sesame oil 
• 2 cloves garlic, minced or pressed
• 1/4 – 1/2 inch nub of ginger, minced or grated
• 2 TBSP mayo

Combine in a jar, shake the hell out of it and then chill. Give it a shake every so often.

Toast Cashews & Sesame Seeds

Toast cashews in a cast iron pan over medium heat until some parts are golden.

When they are almost ready, add and toast sesame seeds in cast iron until yellowy gold and fragrant.

Remove & set aside.

Fry the marinated tofu

Drain tofu from marinade

Head oil (coconut, canola, etc) in cast iron over medium high heat

Fry tofu until gold:

When tofu is almost ready, add a bit more marinade and let the tofu ‘steam’ until marinade is almost gone.

Remove IMMEDIATELY from heat once liquid is gone.

Toss salad

• fill bowl with greens
• 1 chopped peeled orange
• 1/2 – 1 chopped cucumber
• 1/4 – 1/2 sliced red onion
• 1/2 – 1 red pepper

Toss with enough dressing to cover — not sure how much? Add a little, toss and taste, repeat until delicious.