Buckwheat Noodle Salad with Grilled Tofu and Roasted Peppers
August 2, 2017
This past Sunday, I’d finally moved into my new apartment to the point that trying to cook something seriously in my new kitchen was a true option. Because I’ve decided after two-plus months of frozen dinners and gas station sandwiches, which all tended to feature mysterious meats that I really didn’t want to eat, that I would go as meat-less as possible for the foreseeable future, I broke-out my favorite vegetarian cookbook: “Vegetarian Cooking For Everyone” by Deborah Madison.
My goal was to make something that I could eat for the rest of the week without having to cook for either lunch or dinner, so I headed to the pasta salads, which unexpectedly had me checking out a noodle dish “Buckwheat Noodle Salad with Grilled Tofu”. I was all set to make it, but on the facing page was a recipe “Sesame Noodles with Asparagus Tips” and since I in-fact had asparagus that was beginning to bend over in the fridge, I decided to make that instead.
The recipe fed me on Sunday night and Monday for lunch, and I now I’m on a noodle kick, which isn’t all that bad because I’ve been on a noodle kick before and 1) it’s beautiful food to make, 2) it’s fun food to make, and 3) it tends to be delicious and healthy food. After that success, I moved on to the original recipe I wanted to make, the buckwheat noodle salad.
I’ve never, ever made tofu that didn’t taste like anything but bland tofu, so I put a LOT of effort into doing it right this time. I pressed the tofu for a solid hour first thing in the morning and got the slices in the fridge to marinate for the day while I was at work. After work, I built a hot grill to roast the red peppers and moved them into a ziploc bag to make processing them easier, then I grilled the tofu to the point the edges became blackened.
It’s one of the best things I’ve ever made. The tofu is the best I’ve ever tasted and had characteristics of crispy kielbasa. The peppers were beautiful and it all really tied itself together the way the foodie talking heads describe it: the sweetness and the saltiness and the crispiness and the creaminess. I’m patting myself on the back.
Links
Image Gallery
- 20170802-A-Pressing-Tofu Pressing the firm tofu allows it to absorb marinades and flavorings better.
- 20170802-B-Marinating-Tofu Marinating the slices of tofu.
- 20170802-C-Roasting-Red-Peppers Roasting the peppers over a charcoal grill outside.
- 20170802-D-Processing-Peppers Immediately placing the roasted peppers into a ziploc bag makes them super easy to process.
- 20170802-d2-Roasting-Red-Peppers Beginning to grill the tofu slices.
- 20170802-E-Finished-Product The final meal topped with scallions and cilantro.
© 2024 0degreesK