Peanut Tofu - Lunch idea

I know a lot of people fear tofu, and really there is a good reason - its essentially a blank canvas, which is daunting. I really like to incorporate tofu in my diet; it is very versatile, is low in fat, low in sodium, a source of omega-3 and most brands are fortified with calcium. The real key with tofu is knowing what kind to use with what type of recipe, and how to season it so that it doesn't make things too bland. I'm going to try and give you a few recipes with different types of tofu so that maybe you'll be inspired.

For this tofu peanut salad i decided to use medium tofu, you could easily use firm, but i'd recently had a peanut tofu salad at a Japanese restaurant that used medium (or softer) tofu, and i really enjoyed it. I wasn't trying to exactly re-create that recipe because it was really just a mid-meal pallet cleanser and i was looking for something a bit more substantial for a take to work lunch option. Tofu is a really good base for these types of dressing as they will absorb and compliment the taste with their texture. Its best to make this a day before so it incorporates.

You can go out and buy some bottled peanut dressing, and there is nothing wrong with that, but since i discovered how easy it was to make the dressing for the Lime Peanut Noodles i thought i would do a variation on that blender dressing. I essentially used many of the same ingredients, except i added a little sesame oil along with the hot water and took out the sugar.

Lime juice and zest
Peanut butter
Soy sauce
Sesame oil
Ginger
Rice wine vinegar
Scallion
Red pepper flakes
Hot water to thin

I diced the medium tofu into bite sized pieces and added shredded carrots to give it a little more texture. The tofu is fairly fragile, so when i dressed it, i did it gently. I topped the tofu with some chopped cilantro, sesame seeds and a few red pepper flakes. For lunch i will be serving this on a bed of spinach. The extra dressing in the tofu will be dress the spinach.

Above:

Close up of the tofu finished
The ingredients
Playing with the new camera (indulge me)
Tofu - as packed in water
Lunch is ready!