Fruits and Veggies Monday {Broccoli Salad & Pineapple Tofu Bowl with Coconut Black Rice}

Happy Monday folks!  It is time for another fantastic round of #fruitsandveggiesmonday with our fantastic hostess @lenasveganliving.  Make sure to check out her weekly post to see all of the rules and other entries.  There is always a great group of folks joining in, but there's always room for more!

This week I definitely got a bit of an assist from my dear @dksart.  I had to work Saturday morning earlier than usual, so he got up and went to the farmers market for me.  I don't mind getting some staples from the grocery store, but while the market is in full swing I don't want to miss it.  He did a fantastic job picking up some goodies in my stead. ;)

Since he was so nice to do that for me, I decided to whip up something tasty for Saturday night's dinner.  Often on Saturday we may have still have some leftovers from the week or occasionally we will go out for dinner.  I don't always feel like cooking, or rather it's more I don't feel like doing dishes after all of the other errands and housework I try to do on Saturdays after work.  Though I decided I'd actually venture into the kitchen, I still kept it a pretty easy meal with a lot of raw vegetables mixed in with a few cooked items for a filling bowl of goodness.

Broccoli Salad & Pineapple Tofu Bowl w/ Black Rice

Makes about 4-5 servings, with extra salad

• 1 head of broccoli, shredded
• 3 medium carrots, shredded
• 1 yellow or red bell pepper, seeded & chopped
• 1 cup finely chopped pineapple for the salad + 1 cup chunks for the sauce
• 1 shallot, peeled & chopped
• 1" knob of fresh ginger, peeled
• 1 tablespoon white miso
• 2 tablespoons rice wine vinegar
• 1 teaspoon hot sauce
• 3 tablespoons low-sodium tamari or liquid aminos
• 1 (15-ounce) package firm tofu, cubed
• 1 cup black rice
• 1/2 cup coconut milk
• 1 teaspoon ground turmeric
• 1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper
• a few handfuls of spinach or other greens
• broccoli sprouts for serving

For the base of the bowl I made a raw salad with shredded broccoli, carrots, and chopped bell peppers and fresh pineapple.  I made the job much easier with my food processor.  It definitely saves a lot of chopping when you can just toss your vegetables into the bowl and pulse away!

The dressing for the salad I also multi-purposed into the sauce for the sauteed tofu.  Place the second cup of chopped fresh pineapple, shallot, ginger, miso and rice wine vinegar into a blender or food processor.  Blitz it up until smooth.

I poured about 2/3 of the mixture into the salad.  Keep the other portion for your tofu marinade.  Toss the salad together and set aside for a few hours to let all of the flavors meld together.  I always like making a slaw ahead of time for that reason.  You can definitely serve it right away, but it will get better as it sits.

While your salad gets happy, prepare the rest of your meal.  With the remainder of the pineapple sauce, add a teaspoon or so of your favorite hot sauce (to taste) and the tamari.  Mix it together and then pour over the chopped firm tofu in a glass container to let marinate for about a half an hour (or more if you have the time to let it sit).  I tossed mine around about halfway through to make sure all of the pieces were immersed in the sauce.

While your tofu is marinating, cook the rice.  I used black rice since I am still working on my huge bags from Costco, but feel free to sub any other rice or grain of your choice to bulk out your dish.  Place your rice in the saucepan with the coconut milk, turmeric and pepper with another cup and a half of water (or however much water your grain of choice calls for to cook through).  Cook according to the directions, then set aside to finish off the tofu.

Heat a medium skillet over medium heat and add in your tofu with any extra marinade left in the bowl. Cook for about 10 minutes, or until the tofu is starting to brown a bit and the sauce has reduced down.  Stir occasionally to prevent sticking.  @dksart also got a great deal on a huge bag of spinach at the market, so I tossed in a few handfuls of spinach when my tofu was just about done to wilt through.

To prepare my bowls I just layered a cup or so of salad...

A scoop of rice...

...and some of the tofu and spinach!

For a final garnish I just got done sprouting another batch of broccoli seeds, so of course I had to add those on top for that extra nutritional hit!  It was an excellent mix of sweet from the pineapple and spicy from the hot sauce.  I actually really enjoyed how the tofu came out in the sauce.  I kept stealing chunks of it while I was plating. ;)

Have a healthy and delicious week!!

Thank you again to my dear friend @woman-onthe-wing for the latest banner to make my posts even prettier, and my darling @dksart for the one below which I am using in my new branding efforts as I work on my business!