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Crispy Kale & Tofu Salad

Course: Main
Cuisine: Asian
Author: Hip Foodie Mom

Ingredients

  • 1 cup short-grain brown rice or you can get the ready made brown rice from Trader Joe's and just heat it for 3 min
  • Salt
  • 1/3 cup extra-virgin olive oil
  • 1 teaspoon toasted sesame oil
  • 2 tablespoons soy sauce
  • 1 1/2 pounds kale—stems and ribs removed leaves chopped
  • 1/2 cup unsweetened coconut flakes ok, I could not - for the life of me- find UNsweetened coconut flakes so I did not include this; still tasted great but will definitely include this for next time!
  • 1/2 pound extra-firm tofu cut into 1/4-inch cubes (about 2 cups); make sure you get extra- FIRM tofu
  • Sesame seeds to sprinkle on top optional; but makes it look oh so pretty!
  • Dried seaweed to cut and sprinkle on top optional

Instructions

  • Preheat the oven to 350° and position racks in the lower and upper thirds of the oven.
  • Rice: In a saucepan, combine the rice with 2 cups of water and a pinch of salt; bring to a boil. Cover and simmer over low heat for 35 minutes, until the rice is tender.
  • In a small bowl, whisk the olive oil with the sesame oil and soy sauce.
  • Transfer two-thirds of the dressing to a large bowl.
  • Cut up the tofu and -if you need to- pat them down with a paper towel so they are not too wet
  • Add the kale, coconut (if you have it) and tofu; toss to coat, then spread on 2 rimmed baking sheets.
  • OK, so I used an entire bag of kale - yes, I wanted all that extra kale goodness- so had an incredibly hard time tossing all of this. Make sure you use a big, deep bowl and use some plastic kitchen gloves. Just gotta get in there. There's no clean way to do this in order to get everything well coated.
  • Bake for 25 minutes, until crispy.
  • Stir once or twice and shift the pans halfway through baking.
  • Return the mixture to the large bowl and toss with the remaining dressing and rice.
  • Season with salt, sprinkle on the sesame seeds and cut dried seaweed (if you have it) serve right away!