Friday, 1/6: Tofu and Cucumber Salad

I made this recipe from Vegetarian Times. They always have great recipes, and this one did not disappoint. I'm pretty sure I lost weight just from eating this dish.

The only major modification I made was that I cooked the tofu. I sauteed it in sesame oil to give it some texture and flavor. Raw tofu sounded odd to me. I actually let Doris chop the tofu with her new kid-friendly knife and she really liked that. The tofu turned into bits and pieces of many different shapes but it worked out just fine. I actually doubled the tofu and left the rest of the ingredients the same because tofu goes quickly at our house. As Doris was chopping, she got all done and then said "And now I have to eat it." That's how she helps cook. So I always have to double the tofu or Karen and I don't get any.

Of course I left out the ginger. I replaced rice wine with white wine because that's all I could find at Giant. I had to go to Whole Foods to get the sprouts and the Furikake seasoning. I used white vinegar instead of rice vinegar just to be cheaper.

I served it with a side of edamame. I boiled the edamame and then sauteed it with some green onion and a little Hoisin sauce. It was nice. Doris really just ate edamame for dinner.

Karen initially said "Where's the rice?" But when I told her it was a salad, she was open-minded enough to cautiously try it and then said "Nice meal, mommy!" We both agreed that this is a meal to serve again.

We ate this for lunch again on Saturday afternoon.

Mayo: 50 cents
Vinegar: 10 cents
Sesame Seeds: 10 cents
Soy sauce: 10 cents
Wine: 50 cents
Sugar: 10 cents
Tofu: $6
Cucumber: $2
Avocado: $4
Sprouts: $2.50
Onion: $1.50
Furikake: 30 cents
Edamame: $3.50
Hoisin: 30 cents

Total: $21.50 ($7.17 per person)

Really? That's extreme! Way too much. As much as we liked this meal, it can't make it into our rotation. Way, way too much for dinner.