Warm Rice & Quinoa Salad with Pan Fried Tofu is so healthy and delicious. Packed full of red pepper, carrot, courgette & onion which is paired with crispy fried tofu, rice and quinoa, this tasty vegan dish is sure to be a hit!
This recipe was inspired by a Savoury Rice Salad in my much loved ‘Entertaining with Cranks’ book. Even though I’m not a vegetarian I have always loved vegetarian food and in some ways find it much more adventurous than cooking with meat.
My Warm Rice & Quinoa Salad with Pan Fried Tofu uses the softer variety of Tofu and not the more rubbery one, therefore after the crispy exterior there is a divinely light soft centre to die for! We are all new to eating tofu and this was our first experience eating it – everyone loved it and the warm salad which was both nutritious and delicious.
I’d be interested to find out what you do with your tofu as it’s a food I have yet to fully explore! I did however make a very lush Blackberry Tofu Brulee recently which again went down a storm!
For some more inspiring vegetarian salad ideas you might like to check out:
- Maple Tofu Skewers with Papaya Salsa
- Teriyaki Tofu Stir-fry
- Warm Dressed Noodle Salad
- Tea Smoked Tofu Gado-Gado (Indonesian Peanut Sauce Vegetable Salad
- Egg Noodles with Purple Broccoli and Grilled Tofu.
I am entering my Warm Rice & Quinoa Salad with Pan Fried Tofu into Extra Veg a blog challenge run by Helen and Michelle and hosted by Emily this month.
Pin for later!
Disclaimer: I won the Clearspring Tofu in a Twitter competition and received the other Clearspring products as samples.
Warm Rice & Quinoa Salad with Pan Fried Tofu
Ingredients
- 250 g Quick Cook Rice & Quinoa I used Clearspring or a mixture of long grain brown rice & red quinoa
- 2 Medium Onions finely sliced
- 2 tbsp Rapeseed oil + extra
- 2 tbsp Soya Sauce I used Clearspring Tamari
- 1 Small courgette grated or make matchsticks with a mandolin
- 1 Carrot grated
- 1 Red pepper finely chopped
- 1 300 g Block of Tofu I used Clearspring firm & silken which is actually soft
- Salt flakes & freshly ground pepper
Instructions
- Slice the tofu into 8 pieces (or more if wished).
- Put on a plate lined with folded kitchen paper and pat dry the tofu with lots more kitchen paper.
- Once dry, put in a large dish and scatter with salt flakes then gently pour in enough boiling water to cover and leave for a minute. (This will firm up the tofu slightly and extract more moisture).
- Drain the tofu, pat dry again with more kitchen paper and set aside.
- Boil the rice and quinoa according to instructions and then drain.
- Meanwhile fry the onions in 2 tbsp oil until golden.
- Add the rice to the pan along with the freshly ground pepper and soya sauce, leave to one side.
- In a large frying pan or wok add enough oil to coat the bottom and then fry the tofu on both sides until golden (it may break as it’s very fragile).
- Put the fried tofu onto kitchen paper to drain.
- Add the courgette, carrot and red pepper to the rice mixture and mix thoroughly.
- Place into 4 bowls and top with the fried tofu.
- Serve with an extra splash of soya sauce if wished.
Mayuri Patel
That is a fantastic meal Camilla, filling and healthy. Love how beautifully you’ve pan fried the tofu. Whenever I get tofu I usually use it in stir fries. Love this salad, bookmarking it.
Camilla
Thank you so much Mayuri, it is a fabulous dish:-)
Amy Fidler
A nice light lunch recipe x
Jayne Sullivan
This looks so tasty. A recipe I will have to have a go at making.
Camilla
Thanks Jayne, it is lush:-)
Amy Fidler
I used to be a vegetarian,so i’ll love this xx
Lisa Williams
This looks so delish I adore crispy tofu so anything with that in is a winner in my book 🙂
Ninjacat
This looks divine ~ I’ve never tried tofu and looking at this I’m going to have to.
Camilla
Thanks Claire I’d never had it either but fried like this it was just divine, everyone loved it:-)
Paul Wilson
I’ve been trying quinoa, makes a nice change from rice/pasta.
Maya Russell
I really like this recipe and the pan fried tofu idea. I have never had tofu and I’m interested to know what it tastes like.
Camilla
Maya it really doesn’t taste of anything but when fried it has such a lovely crispy texture and absorbs other flavours well:-)
tiggerific1973
I love quinoa but still never tried pan fried tofu, next on my list 🙂