Miso roasted tofu & wild rice salad
Here’s a hearty show-stopping salad with bright and bold flavours that all your family and friends will relish; it’s perfect served as a main course on its own, but it will slot in perfectly with other BBQ salads for an alfresco feast. This salad is relatively low in fat and offers plenty of wholegrain fibre which makes it deeply nourishing as well as delicious.
The broccoli and tofu are marinated with miso paste and tamari; once roasted they become deeply savoury - almost ‘meaty’ - and lend brilliant complexity of flavour to the overall salad. Fresh mint keeps everything clean and lively, and the tang of our sweet chilli vinaigrette, made with Aspall’s red wine vinegar, brings everything together.
This salad is equally tasty the next day (any leftovers are perfect for a working lunch) and it’s ideal for hosting as it can be finished and dressed up to two hours in advance.
Prep time: 15 minutes (exc. preparing a batch of sweet chilli red wine vinaigrette)
Cook time: 30-40 minutes
This recipe serves 4 as a main course, or 6-8 as part of a wider spread.
Ingredients :
300 g (1 ½ cups) wholegrain or wild rice
150 g (1 cup) frozen edamame beans
1 block (280 g) firm tofu
1 head broccoli, or 250 g tender stem spears
4 tbsp soy sauce or tamari
2 tbsp miso paste
2 tbsp olive oil
30 g (1 pack) fresh mint
2 tbsp toasted sesame seeds, optional
Method:
The recipe for the sweet chilli red wine vinaigrette can be found here. Start by preparing a batch of this dressing which will last for one month in a clean container in the fridge.
Preheat the oven to 220 degrees and have an oven rack near the top.
Cover your rice with a generous amount of cold, salted water and cook as per the packet’s instructions. 2 minutes before the end of cooking time add the edamame beans to the pot to blanch. Once cooked, drain the rice and edamame immediately and allow the steam to billow off well to avoid a soggy salad.
Slice the tofu into 1 cm thick slices and press gently on kitchen paper before dicing into cubes; cut the broccoli into florets, or trim the spears if using tender stem broccoli.
In a small mixing bowl whisk together 2 tablespoons of tamari or soy sauce with the miso paste and olive oil; pour this over the broccoli and tofu and mix gently to coat evenly.
Roast at the top of the hot oven for 14-16 minutes or until the broccoli and tofu are slightly charred in places. Open the oven half way through cooking to allow the steam to escape.
Lightly toast the sesame seeds in the residual heat of the oven, if using, and coarsely chop the mint.
Mix 8 tablespoons of sweet chilli red wine vinaigrette with 2 tablespoons of soy sauce or tamari.
Now gently toss together your cooked rice with the roasted broccoli and tofu, the chopped mint, and the dressing. Tip into your serving bowl or largest salad bowl and garnish with the toasted sesame seeds and a few glistening final spoonfuls of dressing.