Nut Free, delicious Tofu salad with Vegan Caesar dressing

HI Everyone,

It's Okja,

I hope you are enjoying having a peaceful evening??
Today I bring you a delicious salad with vegan Caesar dressing.
Personally, I'm not vegan but I love the idea of replacing mayo with a healthier option.
I often think about buying a caesar salad dressing from a shop but thinking about the amount of oil in mayo put me off greatly.
I'm​ sure some of you agree with me.

This is an another reason that I like this salad recipe.
I'm a tofu lover but my husband doesn't much care for it due to its bland taste.
Tofu is such a good ingredient that you can flavour it with any seasoning.
The most typical sauces that work with tofu are soy sauce, bean paste, Korean chilli paste and oyster sauce.
Today's recipe will show you one of the basic ways to marinate tofu before cooking it.
I hope to show you more tofu recipes in the future.

I wanted to make this recipe for awhile but the original recipe has cashew nuts as the base of the dressing.
Which is a big no no as we have nut allergy sufferers in our family.
So I came up with this idea of replacing cashews with sunflower seeds.
Result? fantastic!

For this recipe, you will need

A half portion of tofu
Broccoli
Spinach
Avocado
Celery
Any leaf salad

For marinade sauce

1 tsp of smoked paprika
2 tsp of Honey or rice syrup (you can replace it with sugar)
2 tsp of soy sauce
a half cup of water
a half tsp of onion powder
a pinch of turmeric

For Ceasar salad dressing

A half cup of soaked sunflower seeds in water
2-3 dates
2-3 tsp apple vinegar
A little bunch of fresh mint
1stp of English mustard
1 -2 cloves of garlic
2 tbsp of olive oil
A pinch of salt and pepper
3 tbsp of lemon or lime juice.

First, cut the tofu into small cubes. Mix all the marinade ingredients in​ a bowl and add the cubed tofu. Gently toss the tofu with the sauce and leave it on the side for 20 mins.
For the salad dressing, you will need a blender to puree all the ingredients plus water that soaked sunflower seeds and leave it in the fridge​. ​
You can prepare any type of salad. For this occasion, I was craving for nice crunchy​ veggies. I didnt bother to cook any of my veggies​ and I wanted them raw.
After 20 mins, move the marinated tofu into a small pan with some oil and cook it over​ a medium to high heat. It will take about 10-15 minutes for all the water to be evaporated​ and the tofu to absorb​ all the flavour.
Once the tofu looks dry, reduce the heat to low and leave it until the tofu skin becomes​ crispy brown.
The only thing left now is mixing the salad with the dressing and serve it with tofu on the side.

Taste? - creamy dressing complements crunchy raw veggies. The salad tastes​ nutty without actual containing nuts. The smoky sweet and salty flavoured tofu boost​ your appetites just like eating Pringles​( once you open the bottle, you cannot stop eating it).

So long people

Okja