Lately that has changed. Making a real effort to eat healthier food has meant putting a bit of planning into my dinners, and while I can't always rally the energy to cook after a long day, rediscovering what it means to "cook for one" has been a total revelation. As I've said before, growing up we were encouraged to eat a variety of foods but traditional meals always won out. Winters were special for roast meals with pork crackling and crunchy roast potatoes as well as cakes and scones and home made bread with real butter. Of course, these were treat foods and like anyone, my family does make an effort to eat healthily but I can't honestly say they're huge fans of brown rice, tofu and quinoa!
Cooking just for myself means I can take these not-so-well-loved but healthy ingredients and experiment with them without having to disappoint anyone with an inedible meal if things don't pan out (excuse the pun!).
And I'm glad I have been able to experiment because I was playing around with the usual suspects (brown rice, tofu, chia seeds...) and I managed to cook up a really yummy, colourful and healthy dish for dinner the other night. I actually really like using tofu, it's like a little flavour sponge. In this recipe the tofu is marinated in citrus and ginger which gives a yummy pop of flavour that really complements the beetroot.
Orange-ginger Tofu and Brown Rice Salad
serves one
125g firm tofu
Juice of one orange
1 teaspoon low sodium soy sauce
1 tablespoon sliced fresh ginger OR 1 teaspoon pre-prepared crushed ginger
Half a regular beetroot
1/2 cup cooked veges of your choices (green beans are nice with this dish)
Small handful of unsalted cashews
A couple of red onion slices
1 teaspoon chia seeds
Single portion of cooked brown rice (for lazy people, several brands make instant quick-cook brown rice cups that you can microwave)
Preparing the Tofu
You want to do this step well before anything else, the tofu needs
to be pressed and marinated so allow at least an hour, longer is better!
The first step is pressing the tofu. Firm tofu is kept in liquid and you want to remove as much as possible so that that marinade is able to soak in. There are lots of tutorials online showing you how to do this "properly" but I usually just put the tofu between two plates and pop something heavy like a jar of water on top and leave it for half an hour. If the bottom plate is upside down some of the liquid will be able to drain off while it's sitting there. You can also put down a couple of paper towels under the tofu to absorb even more moisture.
While the tofu is drying out, prepare your marinade. In a bowl or jar add the orange, ginger and soy sauce, cover and pop in the fridge until the tofu is ready.
Once your half hour (minimum!) is up slice the tofu into little cubes and submerge in the marinade. If there isn't enough liquid to cover the tofu, you can top it up with water or a sweet white wine (fancy!).
Beetroot Prep
Once the tofu is stewing away, you can start thinking about the beetroot. This bit's pretty easy, although watch out for the juices as they stain fingertips and white clothes.
First preheat your oven to 200C.
Use a sharp knife to slice your beetroot into even, bite sized pieces.
Spread out onto a lined baking tray and spray with cooking spray (I used an olive oil spray).
Sprinkle with sea salt and black pepper and pop in the middle of the oven for 20 minutes. Turn everything over half way through cooking.
Salad Construction
Once all your prep is done, you can start cooking the tofu and putting everything together.
The tofu can be baked at 180C or grilled, but I prefer it "fried" in my nonstick pan, you can add a little of the marinade to the pan for extra moisture and flavour - you want the tofu to be a little crisp around the edges which should only take a few minutes in the pan or under the grill, or about ten in the oven.
Once the tofu is cooked, combine it with the rice, beetroot, and veges in a bowl with your cashews and chia seeds.
Enjoy!
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