Wednesday, February 22, 2012

Food fancy: Grilled tofu with barley salad


I never had a really good relationship with food, my mum hated cooking, majority of my childhood was spent in different cafes and restaurants. To me, going out to eat was mere practicality rather than something that is seen as enjoyable. I didn't start cooking until 5 - 6 years ago and all I did was the most basic of recipes since I had no one but myself to teach the art of cooking.

Well how things has changed. I now enjoy food, sometimes I still find the act of eating a waste of time, but we now tolerate each other and I am interested in us becoming friends. I even started experimenting with different recipes. A lot of time they ended up as utter failures, but every so often there will be one or two dishes which I would be very proud of.

This salad is a variation of this  recipe  I found on Scandi Foodie. If you have never heard of this blog, go to it now, it has beautiful photography and extremely simple and delicious veggie recipes. Unfortunately I couldn't find half the ingredients their recipe calls for, so I made my own version instead. It is so simple and delicious, definitely something which I will be making again and again.


Grilled tofu with barley salad - Serves two with a lunch pack left over

- Half a pack of firm tofu
- 1/2 cup of barley pearls
- A handful of cherry tomatoes, quartered
- 1 cup of frozen peas
- A handful of snowpeas, chopped
- 1/2 cup of ready made satay paste (I got my from an Asian store)
- Handful of sesame seeds

1. Sliced the tofu into slabs and brush some satay paste on the front and back, leave to marinate
2. Cook the barley pearls according to instruction, I added a pinch of salt for added taste
3. While the barely is cooking, grill the tofu on both sides, making sure it has slight crisp texture
4. Rinse the barley out and let it cool and semi-dry for about 20mins
5. Prepare all your veggies, cook the peas and set them aside
6. Dry toast the sesame seeds in a small pan
7. Combine all the veggies, barley and sesame together and dress it with the remainder of the satay paste.
8. Place the grilled tofu on top and serve.
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9 comments:

  1. This looks really tasty. I might try it with the peanut sauce in Jamie Oliver's 30 Minute Meals book. I love recipes that are healthy and quick to cook too. P.S. I love your watercolour illustrations, they are so beautiful. It makes me want to get back into art, which I haven't done since high school.

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    1. Yum, I think it will taste a million times better with home made sauce. I'm glad you like my illustrations, I haven't done any watercolours this year as I was feeling a bit defeated. There are so many talented artists out there.

      In saying that, you should definitely try it out, it is such a relaxing hobby and it feels so good when you made something of your own.

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  2. One word...yum! Must check out scandi foodie. BTW - good luck on the shirt. I am nearly finished my first shirt for myself (simplicity 2215) but plan to make something for my better half - perhaps the negroni?

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    1. How did you go with the shirt? I have never made one before, this is my first. The instructions on Burdastyle are no help, I am just comparing it with an existing shirt and hoping that I won't make any mistakes along the way.

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  3. Not quite finished yet....I am in trepidation of the buttonholes but you have to throw yourself in! Fortunately the pattern instructions are pretty good - I hear burdastyle are a bit notorious for having garbage instructions - I have downloaded a few patterns from the site I have yet to tackle.

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    1. The buttonholes are not as scary as I thought, I did a practise run first and the rest was really easy. I think Burdastyle is fine if you have a basic understanding of the garment's structure. But since I don't own any shirts and don't spend a lot of time admiring men's shirt, I am finding this pattern extra hard.

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  4. oh! yum yum yum! this looks amazing, carmen!! thank you so much for sharing this recipe!!

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  5. Thank you for sharing this. I'm a vegetarian and I'm always looking for new recipes. This looks delicious. i love tofu and barley.

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