This flavour packed salad is indulgent and healthy- the perfect light dinner or easy lunch that pleases even the pickiest eaters!
Salads. You either love ‘em, or you hate ‘em. Fortunately (or unfortunately) for you, I am a salad snob and I intend to transform you into one too. I grew up with a self-proclaimed allergy to anything green, thus despised all salads. When I became a real life adult, I ate my way through the Twin Cities in search of a plate of greens that would convince me that salad was more than an obligatory precursor to dinner. One fateful day, my heart was changed forever.
One of the first dental practices I worked at right out of school was a small office in downtown Minneapolis next to a Caribou Coffee. I gleefully joined the masses that walked the intricate skyway system at lunch every day. The possibilities of a to-die-for lunch were endless. One little shop called Green + The Grain caught my eye due to the line that was consistently out the door promptly at 11:49 AM every day. I decided to give it a try, and was instantly hooked on their moroccan salad with tofu and lime curry dressing. I’m not kidding you when I say from that day on, I stood in that line at least twice a week. It was that good.
When I moved to Michigan, I missed my easy access to all the healthy fast food joints. In an attempt to fill that void, I immediately got to work to recreate my favourite G+G salad, moroccan tofu salad with homemade lime curry dressing.
This is the kind of salad that you don’t really need a recipe for, but the ingredients are not necessarily something I would think to toss together myself. There are a lot of ingredients, but when you first try this recipe I would recommend not leaving anything out.
A few tips worth sharing:
- Raw tofu can be eaten straight out of the package. I recommend extra-firm tofu to be used in salads, as I find that it mixes well with dressing and creates good texture. Prepare raw tofu by removing the packaging and draining any excess water. Then wrap it in paper towel and place the package on a plate with a weighted item on top to help extract any extra water from the tofu. This will make your tofu salad less soggy. Let the tofu rest like this prior to preparing it from a few hours to overnight. Cut the tofu into 1/2 inch cubes. Don’t worry if they don’t look perfect.
- Cous cous is prepared similarly to rice, except you sauté the grain lightly prior to cooking. I recommend first briefly sautéing the cous cous in a medium saucepan over olive oil, then adding water until it is a fingers thickness above the grain. Bring the water and cous cous to a boil, then reduce the heat to low and cover until fluffy.
- Toss the salad with the homemade dressing in a large bowl with a top to evenly disperse the dressing, otherwise the dressing will be too thick.
Every time I make this salad, my husband is scraping the plate and consistently asking for seconds, so I think it’s safe to say this salad is a winner! I feel like my Moroccan Tofu Salad can be served as a side or as the main dish, since it’s so flavourful and hearty, as well as satisfying.
Moroccan Tofu Salad
Ingredients
Salad
- 2 cups baby kale roughly chopped and de-stemmed
- 3 cups spring mix roughly chopped
- 1 cup extra-firm tofu rinsed, drained, and cubed
- 1/4 cup green onion finely chopped
- 3/4 cup cous cous cooked
- 1/2 cup grapes halved
- 1/4 cup carrots grated
- 1/2 cup red pepper diced
- 1/4 cup unsalted toasted almonds sliced
- 1/3 cup pita chips crumbled
- 2 Tablespoons cilantro finely chopped
Lime Curry Dressing
- 1/2 cup nonfat plain Greek yogurt
- 1/2 cup mayonnaise
- 3 Tablespoons lime juice
- 1.5 teaspoon lime zest
- 2 Tablespoons honey
- 1.5 teaspoon curry powder
Instructions
- Mix all ingredients for the lime curry dressing with a whisk until combined well. Transfer to a mason jar or other small covered container and refrigerate.
- Chop and prepare all ingredients for the salad.
- Toss the salad ingredients with prepared dressing and serve immediately!
Notes
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