Chickpeas, carrot and dill salad with fried cajun tofu

 

There is an Icelandic word “Gluggaveður” which means the weather ideal for watching through the window. As for me, the whole winter is gluggaveður…

Snow is wonderful, when it not sticks to the glasses, do not settle on a scarf, cap, gloves, if not melting and freezing your mouth and hands. Frost creates a wonderful patterns on the glass and admiration is the greater, the more you do not have to scratch the glass. Or do not slide on the sidewalks covered with a thick and irregular layer of ice.

From under the blanket, over the cup of hot chocolate, winter is absolutely beautiful.

And it’s very conducive to establishing and maintaining relationships. Internet definitely helps too.

No need to “wear pants” is a great support to social life. Especially if your friends also like blankets, cups and gluggaveður.

But seriously, today’s dinner is just the result of such internet talks. One about tofu ( “I have tofu, but what to do with it” and “why tofu is bad”) and the other about carrots (during which it turned out that is million ways to eat carrots, and carrots are delicious).

As for the tofu… a lot of people say that is enough to season tofu just before frying, do not need to marinate. But I don’t like tofu like this tofu, it has not taste at all. It is colorless.

Therefore I strongly recommend marinade. Just for an hour, two; you can also marinate overnight. So you can still soak the chickpeas for the next day to chickpea salad.

And, as a marinade. I I used a mix of cajun spices, but you can use any other (eg. Berbere, recipe here).

Once you have soaked chickpeas and marinated tofu, the rest is a matter of literally a few moments. And you have dinner. 🙂

Salad with chickpeas and carrots with dill and fried cajun tofu. Bon Appetit!

 

 

Ingredients:

 

Tofu:

 

1 cube of tofu (180g)

 

2 tablespoons olive oil

1 flaxseed “egg” (1 tablespoon ground flaxseed + 2 – 3 tablespoons of hot water)

bread crumbs (if you want gluten-free, just grind previously roasted oatmeal)

 

Marinate:

 

2 tablespoons olive oil

1 tablespoon rice vinegar

3 – 4 tablespoons Cajun seasoning

 

Cajun seasoning:

 

2 teaspoons salt

2 teaspoons garlic powder

1.5 teaspoons sweet paprika

1 teaspoon black pepper

1 teaspoon asafetida (or onion powder)

1 teaspoon cayenne

1.5 teaspoon oregano

1.5 teaspoons thyme

0.5 tsp chili flakes

 

Salad:

 

40 grams of cooked chickpeas

3 carrots

1 bunch dill

 

2 – 3 tablespoons olive oil

2 tablespoons white wine vinegar (or white balsamic)

2 – 3 cloves of garlic

salt approx. 0.5 tsp

1 teaspoon black pepper

 

 

Preparation:

 

Day before:

 

• Tofu remove from the packaging, wrap in a clean cloth and put in a sieve. Press with pan of water. Let stand for 10 – 15 minutes.
• We prepare the marinade: spices, olive oil and rice vinegar mix.
• Drained tofu cut into slices (approx. 8 – 9). Translate into a shallow dish, pour the marinade and leave in the fridge.
• Soak chickpeas.

 

Next day:

 

Salad:

 

• We rinse the chickpeas and cook in the new water until tender (approx. 20 minutes).
• Peel the carrots and grate on a grater.
• Chop dill.
• Prepare dressing by combining all the ingredients.
• To cooked chickpeas add the carrots and dill, add the dressing, and mix.

 

Tofu:

 

• Warm up the oil in a frying pan.
• Prepare “egg” with flax. Soak the tofu slices in the „egg”, and then in bread crumbs.
• Fry on each side.

 

We serve tofu with chickpeas salad. Bon Appetit!