Thai Tropical Fruit and Tofu Salad

It is always good to eat more fruits and veggies. Personally, I don’t have a problem eating fruit, but always looking for ways to eat more vegetables.

Fruit is a perfect snack food. Take an apple: Wash and eat. It satisfies a need for something crisp, quenching with a touch of sweetness. It is also a lot more filling then processed snacks. There are so many different kinds of apples, you can mix up the texture and flavour each time. Lately, I have been happily exploring new apple varieties: Cameo, Pinata (also called Pinova), Jonagold, Fuji and Braeburn apples, which have all been great for snacking.

The apple is my standard fruit. I usually eat one or two a day and have yet to grow tired of it.

Berries and tropical fruit make me giddy, though. If they weren’t so expensive, I’d be eating them all day long (score for when they are all on sale at the same time!). Most often, like apples, they are great untouched. They are so sweet, you don’t need enhance their unblemished taste at all. Certainly you don’t need to do anything, but yes, it can get better. I dare you to make this salad.

Adapted from my favourite cookbook Radiant Health, Inner Wealth, this is a Thai salad with a multitude of tropical fruit (I used pineapple, mango, kiwi) with lime-tamari tofu. It is tossed with a sweet and zingy sesame-lime dressing. Served overtop of a bed of baby spinach and topped with a sprinkling of dried coconut and crushed cashews, this is a very tasty main-course salad. You do not need dessert with a main dish as succulent as this. 🙂

This is my submission to this month’s Veggie/Fruit a Month, featuring mango, to Healing Foods featuring pineapple, to E.A.T. World for Thailand, to this month’s Ingredient Challenge Monday for pineapple and to Deb for this week’s Souper Sundays.

Thai Tofu and Tropical Fruit Salad

1/2 lb firm tofu, drained and pressed
2 tsp fresh lime juice
1 tbsp tamari or soy sauce

1/8 cup fresh lime juice
1/8 tsp salt
2 tsp agave nectar (or your choice of sweetener)
1 tsp toasted sesame oil
1 tsp tamari or soy sauce
1/4 tsp Aleppo chili flakes
1 tsp sesame seeds
2 tbsp cilantro, finely chopped

1/2 cup shallots (or onion), finely chopped
1 tbsp vegetable oil
1/4 tsp salt

2 cups pineapple, cored and chopped
1 kiwi, peeled and chopped
1 mango, peeled and chopped (see here how to cut a mango)
1 red bell pepper, diced
4 cups baby spinach

2 tsp unsweetened dried coconut
2 tbsp cashews or peanuts, crushed

1. Cut tofu into cubes. Sprinkle 2 tsp lime juice and 1 tbsp tamari overtop tofu, toss to coat and marinate for at least 30 minutes.

2. Meanwhile, prepare the dressing by combining the lime juice, salt, agave nectar, toasted sesame oil, tamari, chili flakes, sesame seeds and cilantro. Whisk to combine.

3. Prepare the salad ingredients by chopping the pineapple, kiwi and mango.

4. Heat vegetable oil over medium-high heat in a medium skillet. Saute the shallots for 3-5 minutes until soft and beginning to brown. Add the marinaded tofu and salt and continue to saute , turning the tofu cubes until they are browned nicely on all sides. Set aside.

5. To serve, place 1 cup of baby spinach on a plate, top with tofu, then the fruit and bell pepper, drizzle with the dressing and sprinkle with coconut and cashews.

Serves 2-4.