Maple Tofu & Brussels Sprout Salad
I’ve been travelling pretty much constantly for the last two months. I haven’t been home for even 48 hours at a time since mid January. Needless to say, I haven’t been cooking much.
It can be hard to eat vegetables on the road. Not to say that I’m limited to fast food places, no I’m not driving around, but flying. As a *shudder* “foodie” I take the opportunity to eat at highly rated restaurants like Lupa in New York (wow, best tortellini ever by the way) and end up scarfing down the complimentary foccacia and ordering dishes heavy with cheese when all I really need is a nice raw green salad.
The other problem with eating out in general of course is the portions, especially in cities that serve “American” sized portions. At home, I generally eat about a fifth of the amount of food that is served on a typical restaurant entree plate. Eating out in San Francisco, I don’t generally run into this problem as not many restaurants here have such heavy servings, and the ones that do - well, I can always take home leftovers. Not so much when traveling.
So when planning dinner for my first meal at home in weeks I wanted something simple and light. Digging through the “to try” recipes I pulled out Heidi Swanson’s Caramelized Tofu with Brussels Sprouts recipe.
Initially I intended to serve the dish with some purple rice, but after a heavy breakfast of near perfect Huevos Rancheros at the Fire Sign Cafe in Tahoe City (highly recommended, best breakfast we’ve had in Tahoe so far this season), I decided to keep it light and when I saw what 1/2lb of brussels sprouts looks like at the grocer I decided to double the recipe.
My cilantro allergy & aversion to using much sugar in my cooking led to a couple of other modifications. I didn’t find my adapted version very satisfying for dinner and initially tossed the recipe. However, I just had the leftovers cold for lunch and wow, this is a delicious simple dish when the flavors are given a chance to meld.
Maple Tofu & Brussels Sprout Salad
serves 4
14 oz extra-firm tofu, cut into 1″ cubes
3 T peanut oil
4 cloves garlic, minced
2/3 c pecans, toasted and chopped
1 T maple syrup
1 T tarragon, chopped
1 lb brussels sprouts, sliced into 1/8″ ribbons
salt
Heat the oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Add the tofu and a pinch of salt and cook, stirring occasionally, until lightly browned. Add the garlic and the pecans and cook a minute longer.
Lower the heat & stir in the maple syrup. Remove the pan from heat and add the tarragon, then transfer to a medium bowl.
Add the brussels sprouts to the pan, season with salt, and cook, stirring infrequently, until golden crusty bits appear.
Add the brussel sprouts to the tofu mixture and toss to combine. Refrigerate overnight to allow the flavors to meld.
Serve cold.
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Tags: brussels sprouts, lunch, salad, sides, tofu
