Cold Tofu, Snap Pea, and Watercress Chop with Almond-Lime Dressing
Pan-crisped tofu cooled and chopped through raw snap peas, watercress, red pepper, and cucumber, all of it coated in a thick almond butter dressing sharp with lime and ginger.
Why You'll Love This Recipe
Some days I want lunch to be cold and loud and green, with no grain underneath it and nothing that needs reheating, and this is the bowl for those days. Everything in it is raw except the tofu, so it takes about twenty five minutes and most of that is knife work. It is also the recipe I hand people who tell me they find salads boring, because there is nothing leafy and polite about it. Between the jalapeno, the ginger, the lime, and the watercress there is a lot going on before you even get to the almond butter.
The tofu is crisped in a skillet rather than baked, which gives you a thinner, crackly crust and keeps the middle softer. Pressed hard, cubed, and left alone in hot oil until each side releases on its own, it takes about twelve minutes and comes out golden on three or four faces. It has to cool completely before it meets the dressing, or the almond butter goes slack and greasy. Splitting the snap peas along their seam is the other move worth learning here, since each half becomes a little scoop that catches dressing.
The bowl crunches from beginning to end. Snap peas snap, pepper strips are sweet and firm, cucumber is cold and wet, carrot matchsticks are almost hard, and the tofu chews against all of it. The dressing is thick enough to hold onto everything without pooling at the bottom, sharp with lime, warm with ginger, and just sweet enough to round off. It travels well too, as long as the watercress goes in on top and the whole thing gets tossed at the table.
Ingredients
- Two 14-oz blocks extra-firm tofu, pressed and cut into 1/2-inch cubes
- 3 cups sugar snap peas, strung and split lengthwise along the seam
- 1 English cucumber, cut into short batons
- 1 large red bell pepper, cut into thin strips
- 4 cups watercress, thick stems trimmed, torn into short lengths
- 2 packed cups arugula
- 2 carrots, cut into matchsticks
- 1/4 cup smooth almond butter, well stirred
- 3 tbsp lime juice, from 2 limes, plus wedges to serve
- 1 tbsp tamari
- 2 tsp finely grated fresh ginger
- 2 garlic cloves, grated
- 2 tsp maple syrup
- 1 1/2 tsp toasted sesame oil
- 1 tbsp olive oil, for the skillet
- 1 jalapeno, seeded and sliced into thin rings
- 4 scallions, sliced thin on an angle
- 1/2 cup chopped fresh cilantro, leaves and thin stems
- 2 tbsp sesame seeds, toasted
Instructions
- Press the tofu hard: Wrap each block in a clean towel, set it on a plate, and weight it with something heavy for twenty minutes. The towel should come away visibly wet and the block should feel firm rather than springy. This is what lets the surface crisp rather than steam, and there is no shortcut worth taking here.
- Crisp the tofu in a skillet: Cut the pressed tofu into half-inch cubes. Heat the olive oil in a large skillet over medium-high until it shimmers, add the cubes in a single layer, and leave them alone for three to four minutes. They release from the pan on their own when the crust has formed. Turn and repeat until three or four faces are golden brown, ten to twelve minutes in all.
- Cool the tofu completely: Spread the cubes on a plate in a single layer and leave them for fifteen minutes, until they are no warmer than the room. Warm tofu turns the almond butter dressing thin and oily, and it softens every raw vegetable it touches. Use the time to make the dressing and cut the rest.
- Build the almond-lime dressing: Whisk the almond butter, lime juice, tamari, ginger, garlic, maple syrup, and sesame oil together. It will tighten and look curdled at first, exactly the way tahini does. Add cold water a tablespoon at a time, whisking, until it turns smooth and thick enough to coat the back of a spoon, about three tablespoons in total.
- Cut everything raw and cut it small: Split the snap peas lengthwise along the seam so each one opens into a scoop. Cut the cucumber into short batons, the pepper into thin strips, and the carrot into matchsticks. Everything wants to be roughly bite-size and roughly the same size, which is what makes a chopped bowl work on a fork.
- Toss it all together: Put the snap peas, cucumber, pepper, carrot, jalapeno, scallions, and cilantro in a large bowl, add most of the dressing, and toss until everything is coated. Fold in the cooled tofu, then the watercress and arugula last with the remaining dressing. Scatter the sesame seeds over the top and serve with lime wedges.
Variations
- Napa and mint: Add two cups of shredded napa cabbage and a handful of torn mint for a bowl that is closer to a slaw and holds even longer.
- Mango: Add a diced ripe mango, which turns the lime and jalapeno into something sweeter and more tropical.
- Rice noodle bowl: Fold in cooked brown rice for a heavier bowl if this is the only thing you are eating and you want more of it.
- Extra heat: Leave the jalapeno seeds in and grate a second clove of garlic into the dressing for a much sharper bowl.
- Shrimp: Use cooked, chilled shrimp in place of the tofu, which needs no cooking step at all and comes together in fifteen minutes.
Storage & Leftovers
Undressed, the cut vegetables and the crisped tofu keep three days in separate containers and the dressing keeps a week in a jar, thickening as it sits. Loosen it with a spoonful of water and you have this bowl in four minutes on any of those days.
Dressed, it holds about a day. The snap peas and pepper stay crisp overnight, the cucumber starts to water down the dressing, and the watercress is the first thing to go. If you know you are eating it tomorrow, keep the greens out and fold them in at the last minute.
For a packed lunch, put the dressed vegetables and tofu in the container and lay the watercress and arugula loose on top, sesame seeds in a separate twist. Four hours later, tossed with a fork, the tofu still chews and the snap peas still snap. Nothing here freezes.
Notes & Tips
- Use the widest skillet you own: A pound and a half of tofu needs room to sit against hot metal. Crowded cubes steam, and steamed tofu will never crisp no matter how long you leave it.
- Let the tofu release itself: Every cube tells you when it is ready by letting go of the pan. Prying at it early tears the crust off and leaves it stuck to the skillet.
- Cool the tofu before dressing: Almond butter thins out against anything warm. Fifteen minutes on a plate is the difference between a dressing that coats and one that pools.
- Add water to the dressing slowly: The dressing seizes before it smooths. A tablespoon at a time, whisked hard, gives you something thick and pale rather than thin and separated.
- Cut everything the same size: A chopped bowl only works if a forkful can pick up five different things at once. Aim for pieces about the length of your thumbnail.
- Greens in last, always: Watercress dressed early collapses within ten minutes. It goes in at the very end, with the last of the dressing, right before the bowl leaves the counter.
Nutrition & Mindful Eating
- Tofu, almond butter, and a bowl full of raw vegetables are the three things at work here. The tofu carries the protein and the chew, the almond butter gives the dressing its body and its fat, and the snap peas, pepper, and greens keep every forkful crisp and cold.
- Tofu set with calcium sulfate is one of the few plant foods that delivers real calcium, and pressing it hard concentrates both that and the protein into a firmer cube. The label on the block tells you which setting agent was used, and it is worth a glance in the store.
- Almond butter is what makes the dressing cling, and along with the richness it brings calcium, vitamin E, and magnesium. Stirred with lime and cold water it turns pale and thick, which is how it manages to coat something as slippery as a snap pea.
- Watercress is one of the most peppery greens you can buy, and that bite is worth having against a dressing this rich. It carries calcium and vitamin K, and it wants to go in at the very last moment because it wilts faster than any other leaf in the bowl.
- Lime, ginger, jalapeno, and toasted sesame are the whole flavor here. Acid keeps the almond butter from sitting heavy, the ginger warms the back of it, and the sesame seeds crack against everything soft. Cilantro stems chopped in with the leaves taste stronger than the leaves alone.
- As you eat, listen for how much noise this bowl makes, and let the chewing itself slow you down enough to notice when you have had what you actually wanted.
Frequently Asked Questions
Can I use peanut butter?
Yes, and it makes a rounder, sweeter dressing. Almond butter is milder and lets the lime and ginger come further forward, which is why it is written that way, but the method is identical and either one seizes and then loosens with cold water.
Do I have to split the snap peas?
You do not, but you lose something. Whole snap peas are slick and the dressing runs straight off them. Split along the seam, each half turns into a scoop with a rough inner surface that holds onto everything. It takes about four minutes for three cups.
My tofu stuck to the pan and tore. What went wrong?
It was turned too early. Tofu grips the pan while the crust is forming and lets go by itself once it has browned, usually at three or four minutes. If a cube resists the spatula, give it another thirty seconds. A pan that is not hot enough at the start causes the same problem.
What else works in place of the watercress?
Arugula on its own is the closest, with the same pepper. Baby mustard greens are sharper still and very good here. Whatever you choose, it should be something with a bite, because the almond butter needs something to push against.