Whenever we’ve joined my boyfriend’s mom on a day trip that involved picnic lunch, she’s prepared a lovely tofu pasta salad. So with that inspiration, I put together my own version, along with a bonus lettuce cup salad using leftovers, just ‘cause.
Pasta salad included:
- Frozen, then defrosted, firm tofu: sliced into four pieces and marinated in olive oil, soy sauce, red wine vinegar, and oregano, then baked for about 20 minutes at 400°F; let it cool, then dice into 1” cubes
- A cup and a half of dry pasta, any shape you like that’s short (something twisty works well – I used whole spelt twists today), cooked according to package directions
- One bunch of kale (I used lacinato), cut into small ribbons and cooked with the pasta for no more than 5 minutes
- Handful of cherry tomatoes, sliced in half
- About a third of a cup of thinly sliced red onion
- Dressed with a drizzle of olive oil, balsamic vinegar, and nooch
The bonus dish used up some leftovers hiding out in my fridge (which, after the shaaaame of showing it in its messy glory to you all, I tried to clean out just a little bit):
- Black lentils
- Quinoa
- Finely diced cucumber, tomato, and red onion
- Minced parsley
- Tahini sauce
- Whole baby red romaine lettuce leaves, rinsed and spun dry
Now…I know the theme is LUNCH on the go. But we ended up having this for dinner on the go. We took it to San Jose’s Alum Rock Park about an hour before sunset. While we were there, we got to observe several deer foraging for their dinner, watch a tarantula cross the road, catch a woodpecker in action, and follow the sun as it turned deep red and lit up the edges of the puffy white clouds in its way. No regrets.
