Karen’s Tofu Salad

A friend of mine passed away recently and she has been on my mind. She was a real character: she made me laugh one minute and then frustrated the heck out of me the next! We liked to talk about food, though. She had funny ways of saying some words: “tufferware” instead of Tupperware, and “toe-food” instead of tofu. But she was almost always up for trying “something different”, which is more than I can say for a lot of people. This one’s for you, Karen. 

For the dressing: 

1/2 cup peanut butter

Juice of one lime 

2 Tbsp soy sauce

1 Tbsp fish sauce 

2 tsp maple syrup 

1/2 tsp red pepper flakes 

Stir all ingredients together until combined. Thin with water if necessary to get a pourable dressing. The salad part can be whatever you like; I used shredded Napa cabbage, cherry tomatoes, carrots, cucumbers, scallions, red pepper and cubed baked tofu. I like the baked tofu because it’s already been marinated and has lots of flavor, but feel free to make extra dressing to marinate regular tofu in, then pan-fry for a few minutes. Assemble your salad components and drizzle with peanut dressing. Serves 2.