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San Francisco has been experiencing some gorgeous weather. The fog is starting to roll in at night, but it has been burning off in the morning and leaving sunny days. I have even had to pull out my sunscreen! With the summer sun, I like to make quick easy recipes that do not require using the oven or standing over a hot stove for a long period of time. This recipe is one passed on to me from my sister, who, like myself, is a subscriber to Cooking Light.

Penne, Crispy Tofu, and Green Bean Salad

Salad:

• 1 (15 ounce) package extra-firm tofu, drained and cut into 1-inch cubes
• 1 teaspoon olive oil
• 2 cups uncooked penne pasta (8 ounces)
• 2 cups (2-inch) cut green beans (about 8 ounces)
• 2 cups halved cherry tomatoes
• 1 tablespoon chopped fresh or 1 teaspoon dried dill

Dressing:

• 2 tablespoons red wine vinegar
• 1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 1 teaspoon low-sodium soy sauce
• 1/4 teaspoon sugar
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 teaspoon black pepper
• 3 garlic cloves, crushed

1) To prepare salad, pat tofu cubes dry with a paper towel. Heat 1 teaspoon oil in a large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. Add tofu; saute 5 minutes, browing on all sides. Remove from pan; chill 30 minutes.

2) Cook pasta in boiling water for 5 minutes; add beans, and cook an additional 5 minutes. Drain. Rinse with cold water, and drain. Combine tofu, pasta mixture, tomatoes, and dill in a large bowl.

3) To prepare dressing, combine vinegar and remining ingredients in a jar; cover tightly, and shake vigorously. Pour dressing over salad; toss well to coat. cover and refrigerate 30 minutes.

Yield: 8 servings (serving size=1 1/2 cups)

Calories 187 (26% from fat); Fat 5.4g; Protein 8.9g; Carb 27.1g; Fiber 2.4g; Chol 0mg; Iron 4.5mg; Sodium 101mg; Calc 78mg

You may check out the finished product below:

As with every recipe, I do my own alterations. For example, I stopped chopping the little cherry tomatoes in half. It just takes too much time and the tomatoes are already bite size. Dill is not one of my favorite herbs. Instead, I use fresh basil. I also do not prepare the dressing in a jar. I just make it in a bowl, stir with a whisk and add to the pasta mixture. Finally, please note that browning the tofu is the only tricky element of this recipe. This is only tricky if you, like me, do not own nonstick pans. This means that I am forced to use a bit more olive oil in order to brown the pieces without burning tofu onto my pan. I like to use a generic olive oil for these kinds of tasks. I found that the Kirkland brand from Costco is really great. It is still a green olive oil (do not use any olive oil that is yellow!), but does not cost an arm and a leg to use. For recipes with olive oil as a higher profile ingredient, I really enjoy Stonehouse Olive Oil. We received Stonehouse olive oil as a gift and now we are hooked. The store at the Ferry Building in San Francisco informed me that they have a program where you can bring back your empty bottle and they will refill it for you and give you a discount on your purchase since you are recycling your bottle. These kind of marketing ploys will get me every time.

The convenience factors of this recipe include cooking the beans with the pasta (this means one less pot to clean–yay!) and also that it is a cold recipe that is great for lunches, potlucks, or leftovers after a long day at work. You can prepare the tofu ahead and then throw the rest together the next day. Also, you may also substitute chicken for tofu, or add cheese. I like to add fresh parmesan or feta. The great thing about this recipe is that it is to simple that you can really customize it for your own tastes—or the ingredients left in your refrigerator without making an extra trip to the grocery store.

This entry was posted on Friday, June 23rd, 2006 at 10:33 pm and is filed under Cooking. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.