Shaved Carrot Cucumber salad with fresh coconut and grilled tofu with Thai inspired spicy dressing

 

“(24/7) once you sign on to be a mother, that's the only shift they offer.”
― Jodi Picoult

All you wonderful mothers out there..Wishing you a very happy Mothers day. Now all mothers deserve to put their feet up once in a while for all the hard work they do. And not just on Mothers Day!



There are skills you can acquire reading books, learning from others etc. But motherhood..that one does not come with any instructions. Sure you read books, and elders help you out..but you gotta just experience it.  Dont worry..I am not going to write another sentimental post on motherhood.



This post is going to be a very short one this time. Why?.. Read the quote at the start of the post!
I leave you with this Thai inspired beautiful salad thats quite easy and healthy. The carrot and cucumber shavings provide a nice change to the usual cut or grated version. I must admit…`shaving`the carrots and cucumber was addictive and I just couldnt stop :-). I found it surprisingly fun. The grilled tofu provides great texture and my favourite part was biting into the fresh coconut slices.
The spices in dressing  can be altered to suit your tolerance. I did not have any lemon grass on hand. I could imagine a bit of lemon grass would taste great in the dressing.



 

Shaved Carrot and Cucumber salad with fresh coconut and grilled Tofu with Thai inspired dressing

Yield – Serves 2-3

Things you need -

1-2 medium carrots
1 medium cucumber
100 gms extra firm tofu cut into cubes. Or use paneer for a non vegan version.
coconut, sliced into 1 inch pieces
lime wedges, for garnish. optional

For the dressing
1-2 green chillies
3 tbsp lime juice
2 tbsp toasted sesame oil / peanut oil
1 tbsp soy sauce
1-2 cloves of garlic
half a tsp cumin seeds
1 tsp brown sugar
salt to taste. Remember there is salt in the soy sauce. Use accordingly.

How its done -

To prepare the dressing
1. Dry roast the cumin seeds on medium heat for about 2-3 minutes. Take care not to burn them.
2. Mix the roasted seeds and all the ingredients for the dressing and grind them in a mixer/blender until a smooth mixture is formed. Add more lemon juice if required. Adjust salt.

To prepare the salad
3. Lightly Marinate the tofu cubes in the dressing just enough to coat them. Best way to do this is to add a tbsp of the dressing plus the tofu cubes in a container. Close the lid and give it a bit of a shake. Keep aside for 15 minutes.
4. Heat a griddle/pan and grill the marinated tofu cubes until they start to turn brown. The time required depends on the heat you are using. It took me about 5 minutes.
5. Peel the Carrots and cucumber into shavings and toss them together into a large bowl with the grilled tofu and coconut pieces
6. Dress the salad just before serving.

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