September 7, 2011

Family Fun Asian Noodle Salad with Sesame Tofu Bites

I was fortunate growing up that I lived in a large city with multiple ethnic and natural food markets. My mother constantly exposed me to new foods and I was lucky to have a wide base of family friends that cooked various delicious ethnic foods. When I first moved to the state of West Virginia I was exposed to a number of new foods and ways of cooking that I hadn't experienced previously. It took me a good bit of time before I felt comfortable making pinto beans and pan fried chicken. After almost 9 years, these foods have become almost second nature for me to cook and I have been trying to now introduce my children to a larger variety of dishes. One of the staples in my house growing up was tofu, it was inexpensive and easily available. I have only exposed my children to tofu less than a handful of times, so I figured it was about time to start trying to incorporate more tofu into their diets. The August issue of Family Fun magazine had a recipe for Asian Noodle Salad with Sesame Tofu Bites, which looked perfect for my children to try tofu.

This recipe has 12 ingredients for the salad and 7 for the dressing. The total time is one hour 20 minutes, with an hour being active. I had no problems finding any of the ingredients at my local grocery store. Instead of using sugar snap peas by the pound, I used a refrigerated pouch, since that was what was available locally. I made a few modifications to the recipe. I let the tofu sit under the weight for longer than 5 minutes. When frying tofu I like to try to get as much water out as possible, so I let it sit approximately 15 minutes. Additionally, I fried my tofu in batches and then added all the batches back into the same pan to add the dressing. This way all the tofu turned out crisp, not soggy. I followed the remainder of the recipe as written.

My husband and I both loved this dish. The crispy tofu bites were delicious and the dressing complimented the dish nicely. My two boys weren't as enthusiastic, and picked around eating mostly the noodles. For only having had tofu a couple of times, the fact that they didn't completely disregard the dish is progress. I appreciated that this dish was easy to make and vegetarian, I have been trying to make at least meatless meal a week. Overall, this recipe is easy to put together and a delicious way to incorporate more tofu and . 

For the recipe go to Family Fun Asian Noodle Salad with Sesame Tofu Bites.



16 comments:

  1. This looks really lovely. I have heard a lot about Tofu but have never tried it. I must do so in the near future. Have a good Wednesday.

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  2. Thanks for the blog comment. We must be about the same age. Great blog, beautiful pictures and your recipes look yummy.

    New follower from MBC

    Julie from Just Jules
    http://julesmpg.blogspot.com

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  3. This looks delicious! We have recently decided to ATTEMPT going vegetarian so this is a perfect recipe for the tofu I just bought (and had no idea what to do with)! =)

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  4. @Judy It's pretty easy to make and very good for you!

    @Julie Thanks for the sweet comments :)

    @the Mrs. I was a vegetarian for about 5 years before meeting my husband. It gets easier the longer you have gone without meat :) My husband however, can't go more than a couple days without eating meat of some sort :)

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  5. Following your blog from a blog hop! Please follow me back! I love your blog!

    www.romanianprincess.com

    XoXo Nicole Mariana

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  6. we love tofu, and i love anything sesame! this sounds good...

    [oomph.]
    Blogaversary Giveaway

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  7. Thanks for the follow! :-)

    I am your newest follower!

    P.S. That looks de-lish, even though tofu scares me!!!

    xo,
    A

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  8. Thanks for visiting and following my blog. We have similar stories I grew up in new york then moved south. I love having company (especially my girlfriends) over and cooking homemade ethnic dishes I learned while living there. They'd never think to try otherwise:)
    Can't wait to share some of yours with them!

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  9. Thanks for your nice comment and for following my blog. I am following you back from Rustic Crafts!

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  10. @oomph I love tofu also, but I'm still trying to convince the rest of my family :)

    @Angela Tofu is really easy and not scary at all I promise :)

    @jen We do have similar stories :) I love finding people similar to me that live in the south and also still cook dishes from elsewhere!

    @Renee Thanks :)

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  11. This looks so yummy - thanks for sharing!

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  12. I love tofu but never find many recipes which incorporate it and this looks yummy!

    Debbie - new follower
    Let Them Eat Cake
    http://www.designedexpressions.com/blog

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  13. @Shannon It was yummy :)

    @Debbie I agree that it's hard to find a lot of recipes using tofu. It really tastes delicious when it's cooked well!

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  14. This looks good and I am always looking for new tofu recipes. The 1 hour active time makes me think it would be a weekend recipe for me.

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  15. @E A lot of the time is veggie prep and preparing the tofu. It could actually take less time depending on how fast you prep :)

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  16. I love tofu too! looks yummy!

    www.whenbabispeaks.com

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