Friday, August 31, 2012

Baby Tomato,Tofu, and Greens Salad


Happy tummies eat lots of greens!  Hooray!

There's no method to the madness that is a Michele salad.  They tend to be comprised of whatever left over vegetables happen to be lying about from previous meals. It's a great way not to let anything go to waste and keep extra calories from the waist! (booo) I try to make at least one vegetarian meal a day. 


As you can see... there are hard boild eggs in this salad. You can omit those if you want to... but I think Mike would die if I didn't include at least some form of protein, especially after a day of lifting heavy furniture. As a compromise, I tossed some in. 


The highlight of this salad are the lightly roasted baby tomatoes. I got the idea from the bacon and baby tomato pizza we made a few weeks ago. Baby tomatoes had me so smitten, they were getting incorporated into everything. Plus, they're so juicy- who needs dressing?


For my protein desires... there is some oven roasted tofu that marinated for a bit with the tomatoes. Got to love tofu, it's a flavor sponge!


The rest is back to basics with a mix salad and a touch of blue cheese crumbled on top.  The blue cheese eliminates the need for all that nasty extra salt. Add any veggies you have on deck, I think chopped red onions would be a fantastic addition.

Get on the good foot with veggies!

Baby Tomato, Tofu, and Greens Salad

1/2 cup Cherry Tomatoes, sliced in half
2 tablespoon Balsamic Vinegar
2 tablespoons Olive Oil
1/2 block firm tofu, drained and crumbled
2 hard-boiled eggs (optional), cooled and chopped into quarters
Mixed green salad
black pepper
1/4 cup blue cheese
any extra veggies you like in a salad

Preheat oven to 400 and line a small baking sheet with parchment paper.

Combine sliced tomatoes, crumbled tofu, balsamic vinegar, and olive oil in a small bowl. Toss tomatoes to completely coat then set aside to marinate for at least 10 minutes.If you want liven things up, season with a little crushed red pepper.

Layer baking sheet with tomatoes and tofu. Don't throw away the extra olive oil and vinegar from the marinade! This is going to be your dressing. Cook for 15 minutes, just to get the juices going. Pull out of the oven and allow to cool on wire rack.

Prep the salad! Always wash your greens, even if the big says they're pre-washed. Add any veggies you desire.

Once the tomatoes and tofu cool, toss into the salad. Season with black pepper. Drizzle with left over olive oil/vinegar. Attack your greens.