Curry Tofu Salad

Besides being delicious, filling and totally healthy, the best thing about this recipe is that you can make it once, and it will feed you throughout the entire workweek. That's right, it makes 5 servings - perfect for your Monday through Friday. This curry tofu salad is veggie packed, so it's a great way to sneak in some extra veggies into your day, too.

I've been a bit quiet on the blog lately because I've been busy planning my wedding next month! As it happens, this recipe will be appearing on my wedding weekend menu. Yeah, I'm pretty confident this one's a crowd-pleaser. If anyone has ever catered their own wedding before (doing most of the prep beforehand, with minimal cooking and lots of helpers on the weekend of), tips and encouragement are appreciated! Also, I'm thinking about dedicating a whole post to sharing my weekend-long, wedding menu. It's mostly plant-based, with gluten-free options available at each meal. Let me know in the comments if  anyone would like to see it!

Anyway, a few more notes on this recipe. I love using tofu as a low-carbohydrate protein source. As a plant-based eater, it's really nice to have delicious, protein-rich recipes in your back pocket to whip up on days when I don't want to think how I'm going to meet my protein requirements for the day. While it's super attainable to get plenty of protein sans animal products, it's important to not discount the "how do you get your protein?" notion so entirely that we forget to make it a priority! I see this all too often with under-educated vegetarians and vegans, which can cause confusion and lead people to believe that plant-based diets are impossible or even unhealthy. I definitely don't think they're for everyone, and I try really hard to let that come across here on Lettuce Beet Diabetes, but plant-based diets can be really great for a lot of people. They just require effort, education, and some planning. But! I've taken some of the planning out of it for you with this recipe. I hope you try it!

Curry Tofu Salad

By Bailey West, B.S. Nutrition/Dietetics

Makes 5 servings

1 lb. tofu, super firm
1 cup celery, finely chopped
1/2 cup carrots, finely chopped
1/2 cup raisins
1/2 cup vegan mayonnaise
1 Tbsp. curry seasoning
Black pepper, to taste
Parsley, to garnish (optional)

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Dice tofu into 1/4 inch cubes. Bake on a non-stick baking mat for about 20 minutes, stirring once.

2. While the tofu is cooking, chop celery and carrots and add to a large mixing bowl. Add in the raisins as well.

3. Allow tofu to completely cool once removed from the oven. Place in the freezer for 5 minutes for quick cooling.

4. Add cooled tofu, mayonnaise, curry, black pepper and parsley to mixing bowl and stir until all ingredients are evenly coated. Enjoy!