cucumber crunch salad with tofu – smitten kitchen

It is a riff on my favourite Peanut Sesame Noodles so test it out should you’re in search of extra of a giant meal. That is only for you, or for you and a fortunate buddy should you’re feeling beneficiant. When you can’t discover agency silken tofu, you should use silken tofu right here however don’t hassle chopping it into batons. Merely halve it crosswise (into two thinner slabs) and organize them in your serving plate. Drizzle with the reserved dressing and heap the dressed cucumbers (and crunchy toppings) over it. If you scoop up the salad, scoop up the tofu as nicely.

Dressing

4 tablespoons clean peanut butter
2 tablespoons soy sauce
1 tablespoon unseasoned rice vinegar
1 1/2 teaspoons honey or brown sugar
1/2-inch piece of contemporary ginger, peeled and minced or finely grated
1 small garlic clove, minced or finely grated
2 teaspoons toasted sesame oil
Sizzling sauce, chili paste, or chili crisp to style
Water, if wanted

Meeting

1 14- to 16-ounce package deal persian cucumbers (5 to six)
1 scallion
3 tablespoons salted roasted peanuts, chopped small
1 package deal agency or extra-firm silken tofu (normally a 10- to 12-ounce package deal)
Toasted black and white sesame seeds (non-compulsory)

Make the dressing: Whisk the entire dressing components collectively in a big bowl. It’s going to style fairly salty and sturdy should you use common soy sauce (as I do) however don’t fret, it’s going to style a lot milder when tossed with the cucumbers. Take away 3 to 4 tablespoons of the dressing (simply eyeball it) and place it in a smaller bowl. Whisk just a little soy sauce or water into this smaller quantity to skinny it; we would like this small quantity pourable.

Put together the greens and tofu: Lower the cucumbers in half lengthwise, then every half three extra instances into lengthy wedge-shaped items (i.e. 6 lengthy items per cucumber). Lower them into 1 1/2-inch lengths on a diagonal and add them to the large bowl with the dressing.

Finely chop the scallion, then add peanuts to the chopping board and chop them tiny with the scallions. Put aside.

Take away the tofu from its package deal and pat dry with a paper towel. Lower it right into a grid of rectangles the peak of the tofu block (see picture for reference).

Assemble and serve: Prepare half of the tofu on a serving plate and drizzle with half of the reserved, thinned dressing. Mix cucumbers and dressing and heap half on the tofu. Repeat with remaining tofu, reserved dressing, and dressed cucumbers and end with the scallion-peanut combination. Drizzle or dot chili crisp or sizzling sauce over, and end with toasted sesame seeds for additional crunch, if you want.

Eat straight away. If left too lengthy, the salt attracts the water within the cucumber out, so I’d both simply combine what I would like or decide to ending the entire dish. It received’t be as arduous as you’d assume.

Source_link