Marinated tofu salad with ginger, soy and mirin dressing

My husband calls tofu “a non-food”. His explanation: that “it doesn’t taste of anything”. Which is actually quite true. My take on tofu is because it has no strong taste, it can (and does) absorb flavours really well, so marinating tofu gives you the protein-packed goodness of it, with all the wonderful flavours of your marinade.

This is an asian-inspired salad that is light from the dressing, yet filling and nutritious. Marinating the tofu does take time but once it’s ready you can put this salad together very quickly.

Ingredients makes 2 servings 

1. 2 squares firm tofu
2. Edamame – squeeze out the edamame from their pods – I buy frozen edamame still in the pod from my supermarket, they’re super easy to use – just take the amount you want, cover with hot water for a few minutes and they’re ready !
3. Mixed salad greens
4. 1/2 small Japanese cucumber, sliced
5. handful cherry tomatoes, halved
6. 1/2 avocado
7. 3 tbls raw pine nuts, toasted
8. Dressing:
9. 1/2 thumb-sized piece of ginger – peel off the outer skin and grate finely
10. 8 tbls mirin
11. 8 tbls rice vinegar
12. 6 tbls neutral flavoured oil – I used rapeseed
13. 2-3 tbls soya sauce
14. 2 tsp sesame oil

Method

1. Mix all the dressing ingredients together and pour 3/4 of it into a ziplock bag
2. Pop the tofu in the bag with the dressing and let marinate for at least a few hours, preferably overnight
3. When ready, heat up your skillet on high heat and fry the tofu
4. While the tofu is cooking prepare the rest of the salad
5. Dress the salad lightly with the remaining salad dressing
6. Pile salad on to a salad bowl/plate and top with sliced tofu

 

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Sticky honey and soy chicken wings

My sticky honey and soy marinated chicken wings

Marinade the wings the night before and then it will take just 30 minutes to get these wonderfully sticky chicken wings on the table. Just enough time to make the accompanying coleslaw.

Ingredients (for two hungry people)

1. 8 chicken wings
2. 1/2 cup light soya sauce
3. 3tbl dark soya sauce (if you don’t have this just add a splash more light soya sauce)
4. 3 tbl honey
5. 1 tsp sesame oil
6. 1/2 tsp mixed spice
7. 1tsp liquid smoke (if you are lucky enough to have a bbq, then you can obviously skip this)

Method

1. Discard the wing tip if you can be bothered
2. Mix marinade ingredients well
3. Put the chicken wings into a large ziplock plastic bag
4. Pour the marinade in to the bag
5. Zip lock and mix well
6. Pop into a bowl and into the fridge to marinade at least four hours but preferably overnight – once or twice jiggle the bag around a bit to spread the marinade evenly
7. When ready to cook, preheat oven to 200C/390F
8. Double line a shallow baking tray with foil and tip the entire contents of the bag (wings and marinade) in
9. Pop into the oven for 30 minutes, turning once – the marinade would have reduced to a nice sticky consistency
10. Serve hot with fresh, cold, zingy coleslaw or they’re even good cold for picnics