Spicy Sesame Zoodles with Crispy Tofu
Ingredients
Chili Sesame Sauce:
1/2 cup peanut butter
1/3 cup sesame oil
1/3 cup light low sodium soy sauce
1/4 cup rice vinegar
2 tablespoons chili paste (like sambal oelek)
2 tablespoons sugar
1 clove garlic, minced
1 knob of fresh ginger, peeled and grated
Zoodles and Tofu
12 ounces extra firm tofu
4-6 zucchini
sesame seeds and scallions for topping
Instructions
Chili Sesame Sauce: Shake all the sauce ingredients in
a jar or toss them in the food processor and give them
a whirl. If you're going to have this cold, refrigerate
your sauce for a while.
Tofu: Press excess moisture out of the tofu. Cut into
bite sized pieces. Heat a tiny bit of oil in a nonstick
pan. Add the tofu and stir fry until golden brown. Add
about 1/2 cup sauce and simmer until the sauce starts
to evaporate/absorb into the tofu and becomes browned
in the pan. Keep gently flipping and scraping browned bits
off the bottom - after a while, you should end up with
nicely golden brown tofu with some little yummy browned
bits from the sauce.
All Together: Spiralize your zucchini and toss with
about 1/4 cup sauce per serving. Top with tofu, sesame
seeds, and scallions. Serve immediately.
Notes
I did NOT cook the zoodles. I wanted this to be more like
a salad, cold and creamy and crunchy. Whether or not you
cook the zoodles, when the sauce hits those zoodles they're
going to get a little watery. I found that this was only a
problem when I didn't serve immediately, so to avoid excess
moisture, serve it right after you toss it up!
You may want to use more tofu depending on how many servings
you are wanting to get out of this. I was fine with 12 ounces
as 6 servings (just doing a small scoop of tofu on each pile
of zoodles) but if you were super hungry you might want more.
Storing this: I would store the sauce separate from the
zoodles and tofu, and then toss it all together just before
serving.