Quinoa Recipe with Smoked Tofu and Vegetables
Quinoa and tofu are a great combination. Both are very nutritious and lend great texture variation to a dish. For this recipe, quinoa is the foundation. It is fluffy, nutty and when combined with tomatoes, cucumber, and parsley you get a dish with addictively fresh bites throughout. As for the tofu, it has a smoky flavor and by cubing it and baking in the oven, each bite-sized piece gets crisp on the exterior while maintaining tofu’s luscious creaminess on the inside. To make all this better, everything is put on top of a bed of fresh spinach. Yum!
Serves 6
Ingredients
- 8 oz. smoked tofu, cut into cubes
- 3 garlic cloves, minced
- 1 1/2 cups grape tomatoes, halved
- 2 cups vegetable broth, reduced-sodium
- 2 cups fresh spinach, packed
- 1 cup quinoa, rinsed and drained
- 1 cup diced cucumber
- 1/4 cup chopped fresh parsley
- Juice of 1 lemon
- Extra virgin olive oil
- Salt, to taste
- Black pepper, to taste
Directions
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees F and line a baking sheet with foil.
- Spread the cubed tofu onto the baking sheet in an even layer.
- Place in the oven to bake until lightly crisp on the outside and creamy in the middle. This will take about 20 minutes.
- Bring the vegetable broth to a boil over medium-high heat. Add the garlic.
- Add the quinoa as well as some salt and black pepper.
- Reduce to a simmer, stir, and cover.
- Leave to cool for 15-20 minutes or until all the liquid is absorbed and the quinoa is tender.
- Remove from the heat and leave covered for a few extra minutes.
- Gently fluff the quinoa with a fork.
- Add the tofu, tomatoes, cucumber, and parsley.
- Drizzle lightly with oil and lemon juice.
- Toss everything together and season to taste with salt and black pepper.
- Create a bed of spinach on your selected serving platter.
- Transfer the quinoa mixture to the platter.
- Serve and eat.