Sesame Quinoa with Tofu

 This is one of those recipes that surprises you. At first I thought this wasn't going to be one of my most flavorful dishes but I was in fact pleasantly surprised. It's full of flavors! I didn't change much from the original recipe. I only added a dash of garlic powder, cayenne and upped the green onion amount. This is a minimalist ingredient list that really packs great flavor and nutrition. Tofu, quinoa and sesame seeds are all excellent foods for healthy happy living. Also makes for great left overs too..if there is any. This recipe comes from my Cooking Light Annual Recipes Book dating back to 2003. I have a collection of these and will be posting recipes from these here and there. 

Sesame Quinoa with Tofu

Ingredients

• 2 ounces firm or extra firm organic tofu, drained and pressed
• 1 teaspoon sesame oil
• 1 tablespoon sesame seeds...white, black or both
• dash of garlic powder
• 1 tablespoon tamari, bragg's amino's or soy sauce
• 1 cup uncooked quinoa (I used tri-color)
• 1 1/2 cups veggie broth or water
• 1/4 teaspoon himalayan salt, or as needed
• 1/2 to 3/4 cup green onions, chopped
• 1/8 teaspoon black pepper or cayenne pepper

Place tofu on several layers of heavy-duty paper towels or dish cloth, let stand 20 minutes. Cut into 1/2-inch cubes.

Heat oil in a medium saucepan over medium heat. Add tofu, seeds and dash of garlic powder, saute 3 minutes. Remove tofu from pan and set aside. At this point, I sprinkled some bragg's on top of my tofu for extra flavor.

In same pan, add quinoa and cook 3 minutes, stirring frequently. Add broth and salt, bring to boil. Cover, reduce heat to low and simmer 15 minutes. Remove from heat and let set 15 min more to soak up the rest of the water and get fluffy. Add tofu, onions, soy sauce and pepper. Serve.

I lightly steamed some broccoli to serve with mine. I topped with cayenne pepper because extra spice is nice. A little sriracha would also be great. You could easily saute an extra vegetable with the tofu too. Or add spinach or anything else that sounds good or is on hand.

Planning ahead, if your gone for the day but want to make this at night. Drain tofu and let it set in the fridge between heavy duty paper towels or dish cloth, it will be ready when you get home so you can have a meal within 30 min or so.

Enjoy !

Adapted from Cooking Light Annual Recipes, 2003 edition...page 53

 This is one of those recipes that surprises you. At first I thought this wasn't going to be one of my most flavorful dishes but I was in fact pleasantly surprised. It's full of flavors! I didn't change much from the original recipe. I only added a dash of garlic powder, cayenne and upped the green onion amount. This is a minimalist ingredient list that really packs great flavor and nutrition. Tofu, quinoa and sesame seeds are all excellent foods for healthy happy living. Also makes for great left overs too..if there is any. This recipe comes from my Cooking Light Annual Recipes Book dating back to 2003. I have a collection of these and will be posting recipes from these here and there. 

Sesame Quinoa with Tofu

Ingredients

• 2 ounces firm or extra firm organic tofu, drained and pressed
• 1 teaspoon sesame oil
• 1 tablespoon sesame seeds...white, black or both
• dash of garlic powder
• 1 tablespoon tamari, bragg's amino's or soy sauce
• 1 cup uncooked quinoa (I used tri-color)
• 1 1/2 cups veggie broth or water
• 1/4 teaspoon himalayan salt, or as needed
• 1/2 to 3/4 cup green onions, chopped
• 1/8 teaspoon black pepper or cayenne pepper

Place tofu on several layers of heavy-duty paper towels or dish cloth, let stand 20 minutes. Cut into 1/2-inch cubes.

Heat oil in a medium saucepan over medium heat. Add tofu, seeds and dash of garlic powder, saute 3 minutes. Remove tofu from pan and set aside. At this point, I sprinkled some bragg's on top of my tofu for extra flavor.

In same pan, add quinoa and cook 3 minutes, stirring frequently. Add broth and salt, bring to boil. Cover, reduce heat to low and simmer 15 minutes. Remove from heat and let set 15 min more to soak up the rest of the water and get fluffy. Add tofu, onions, soy sauce and pepper. Serve.

I lightly steamed some broccoli to serve with mine. I topped with cayenne pepper because extra spice is nice. A little sriracha would also be great. You could easily saute an extra vegetable with the tofu too. Or add spinach or anything else that sounds good or is on hand.

Planning ahead, if your gone for the day but want to make this at night. Drain tofu and let it set in the fridge between heavy duty paper towels or dish cloth, it will be ready when you get home so you can have a meal within 30 min or so.

Enjoy !

Adapted from Cooking Light Annual Recipes, 2003 edition...page 53