Thursday, July 21, 2016

Mediterranean pasta salad with tofu

We have had a few cold dinners this week, on account of some hot summer days and overly warm summer nights. The nice thing about England is that, generally, the hot weather doesn't last for weeks on end like it does in Australia. The flip side is that air conditioning isn't common here, so when it is hot, you are hot.


For those of you in the northern hemisphere, this Mediterranean pasta salad is perfect for summer nights, barbecues or picnics. It's easy to make ahead and then serve cold. For those of you in the southern hemisphere, I imagine it could work as a warm pasta dish too.

I adapted this from a penne, crispy tofu and green bean salad featured on My Recipes. As you will spot, I swapped out green beans for snow peas (mange tout) and penne pasta for pasta spirals. I also added bell pepper and sun dried tomatoes to the salad, and cooked my tofu in more than just oil because I prefer my tofu seasoned. I made a few tweaks to the salad dressing too, although unfortunately stuck with the recommended 3 cloves of garlic, which Mr Bite and I both agreed was too much! I've listed 2 cloves in the recipe below so you can avoid making the same mistake.

Despite the excess garlic, I enjoyed this and would like to make it again (with less garlic!). It paired well with a green salad topped with avocado, pictured below, and the pasta mix could easily be customised to whatever vegetables you have to hand.


Mediterranean pasta salad with tofu
An easy, cold pasta salad that is perfect for summer but could also be served warm
Vegan
Serves 4 as a main meal

Author: Adapted from a penne, crispy tofu and green bean salad on My Recipes


Ingredients
For the tofu
350g firm tofu, pressed and cut into small squares (about the size you'd expect feta cheese to be in a pasta salad)
Drizzle of olive oil, or spray oil
1 tsp red wine vinegar
1 tsp lemon juice
1 tsp dried oregano

For the pasta salad
2 cups uncooked penne or spiral pasta
1 pack (160g or approx. 2 cups) snow peas (mange tout)
1 green or red bell pepper, chopped
12 sun-dried tomatoes - mine were large dried strips not in oil - chopped
2 tbsp red wine vinegar
1 tbsp lemon juice
1/2 tbsp olive oil
1/2 tbsp maple syrup
1/2 tbsp water
1 tsp soy sauce
2 garlic cloves, crushed (note that I made this with 3, but we found this to be too much!)
1 tsp dried oregano
Few decent cracks black pepper

Method
Ahead of time (earlier in the day, or the day before) cook your tofu and pasta, to allow them to cool before serving.

To make the tofu, add a drizzle or spray of oil to a non-stick pan and heat on medium-high heat. Add the pressed and cut tofu pieces and cook for approximately 10 minutes, turning every few minutes, until golden. Reduce heat to medium-low and then add the combined red wine vinegar, lemon juice and dried oregano and allow to cook for a further few minutes until absorbed.

Cook the pasta according to pack instructions and then run under cold water to stop it continuing to cook once out of the pan.

To make the salad, combine the cooked and cooled tofu pieces, pasta, snow peas, pepper and sundried tomatoes in a large serving bowl. In a separate small bowl or jug, whisk together the red wine vinegar, lemon juice, olive oil, maple syrup, water, soy sauce, crushed garlic, dried oregano and black pepper. Pour this dressing mix over the pasta salad and toss or stir well to distribute evenly.

Recommended with a side green salad and avocado.


Submitted to Healthy Vegan Fridays.

What have you been eating this week?

18 comments:

  1. I love the tofu pasta salad at Tibits hugely, but I never think to make anything like that at home - now you've inspired me to make this! The hot weather has been insane this week, hasn't it?!

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    1. It has! I've been lucky to be off work and thus out of London for much of it - I hope you kept cool.

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  2. That looks lovely - I rarely make pasta salad but this looks great for warm weather - I wonder if air conditioning will get more common in the UK with global warming and rising temperatures

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    1. I wish we could progress to better renewable energy systems that would allow air conditioning to be powered by a source that wouldn't make the global warming worse :S It sometimes feels like a catch 22 scenario!

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    2. it makes sense to use solar power in this situation but wind farms seem to make more sense in the UK weather generally! But it does seem an odd idea to capture the heat of the sun to cool you down

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  3. I'd like to say we have had cold dinners, but not true - but they have mostly been warm light salads. I don't remember ever having a pasta salad with tofu, so this does intrigue me.

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    1. Warm light salads still sound appropriate :-)

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  4. I usually fall in the camp of there is never too much garlic haha.
    We are loving cold pasta salads at the moment.

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    1. They're so perfect for this time of year :-) And Mr B is usually a big garlic fan but he found this too much, so I'd be curious to know your garlic threshold!

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  5. This sounds rather delicious. You can send some of your summer weather our way.

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  6. This looks perfect for a hot summer's night. I have never been to England before (can't wait to though!) but I noticed when I visited a number of European countries air conditioning is not popular especially ones where it doesn't get hot too often. Even in the northern part of the US where I live it's gets so hot - we've been having 95 and above for a week now can can't imagine no air conditioning. But I think Americans can be babies with the weather lol.

    I can't wait to try this! :)

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    1. Forgot to add that we always love having you link up with us for #HealthyVeganFridays! I’m Pinning and sharing!

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    2. Thanks so much Mary Ellen. And you're right, air conditioning in Europe is far less common than either the US or Australia!

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  7. Pasta salad sounds so great, I haven't made it in a while but this is a great recipe for me to try!

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  8. "The nice thing about England is that, generally, the hot weather doesn't last for weeks on end like it does in Australia."
    Is that really a nice thing? Haha I'm a heat addict ;)
    This pasta salad sounds so good! And perfect for the heat we've been experiencing in California (which I will never complain about - but we do have air conditioning at least).
    I like the swap from green beans to snow peas - they are my favourite. I like how you seasoned the tofu - I tend to just cook mine in olive oil, leaving it a little boring and plain. I'll be making this soon =)

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    1. You are in the right place if you're a heat addict :D After growing up in Australia I appreciate cooler temperatures!

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