Lemon, Mint and Poppy Tofu Salad

Here's a easy and almost fat free vegan salad. Generally I use a firm chalky tofu for salads as it gives bite and texture, silken tofu is nice but better for dessert making.
This is also the time of the year for excellent cucumbers and peas. Cucumbers are more fragrant than earlier crops and pea's are sweeter and juicer fresh from the pod. I highly recommend you shell your own pea's, this may be more laborious but definitely worth the reward.

500g firm smoked tofu
300g fresh peas
1 cucumber
70g washed rocket
4 lemons
4 tablespoons poppy seeds
6 springs of mint
1 green chilli
1 clove garlic
50ml extra virgin olive oil
Sea salt

Method:
Slice tofu into 2cm cubes and lay over baking tray. Juice the lemons and strain out the seeds, sprinkle tofu generously with salt then drizzle over the lemon juice and half the olive oil. Lastly sprinkle over poppy seeds and bake tofu in pre-heated oven set at 180oC for 20 minutes.
Finely dice chilli and garlic together, place a small pot over medium heat and add the remainder olive oil. Once oil is hot add, garlic, chilli, peas and a teaspoon salt, saute the peas till just tender then remove from heat. Using a potato masher very roughly mash the peas for a few seconds just to break the skin's a little.
Slice cucumber lengthways and scoop out the seeds, then cut into 2mm slice's. Once the tofu is cooked roughly chop the mint and sprinkle over tofu, when tofu has cooled down enough mix the mint and tofu together. To make the salad you can either make 4 individual portions or a large platter. First lay down rocket, sprinkle over cucumber and peas and lastly top with tofu and serve.

Roasted Tofu Salad with Fresh Radish Kim Chee

ZERO CALORIES! Not quite but if you're vegetarian you'll get a days worth of fiber, protein, vitamins and minerals from this salad. Method of this recipe will also help you brush up on your pickling, paste and marinading skills be warned for best result have a mortar and pestle.

If you're vegan omit the fish sauce and you will still have a tasty and textural salad.

500g firm tofu
1 teaspoon mustard seed
1 teaspoon fennel seeds
1 teaspoon cumin seed
1 teaspoon black pepper corns
1 dried chilli
4 cardamom pods
1 tablespoon sesame seeds
1 lime
1 tablespoon fish sauce
2 tablespoon dark soy
100ml sesame oil
1 clove garlic
1 lemon grass
1 small bunch coriander with roots
Small grated knob of ginger
70g rocket
120g mung bean sprouts

FRESH KIM CHEE
2 bunches rasdish
125ml rice vinegar
250ml water
2 cloves garlic
1 small knob ginger sliced
1 bay leave
8 peppercorns
2 dried chillies
50g sugar
1 tablespoon salt

METHOD:
First make the kim chee, remove the stalks from the radish and slice into 2-3mm slices and place into a container with salt. In a small sauce pan add the vinegar, water, garlic, ginger, bay, peppercorns, chillies roughly torn and sugar. Place on a high heat and bring to the boil for 2 or three minutes then pour the liquid over the radish, cover and leave to pickle.
In a fry pan gently toast the mustard, fennel, cumin, pepper, chilli, cardamom and sesame seeds over a low-medium heat till the mustard seeds start to pop. Remove from heat and place in a mortar and pestle and ground into a rough powder, you may need to do this in several batches if your mortar and pestle isn't big enough. Afterwards crush the garlic, ginger and root of the coriander into a rough paste and add to spice powder along with fish sauce, soy, juice of lime and sesame oil, stir into a oily paste.
Roughly tear the coriander leaves and add to the cooled kim chee to infuse the flavour.
Cut the tofu into 1cm cubes and carefully lay out on baking tray lined with parchment paper then drizzle the paste over tofu and bake in oven at 190oC for 20 minutes. After the 20 minutes gently shuffle the tofu round the tray and place back in oven for another 15 minutes then leave to cool at room temperature.
Now its time to construct the salad on a serving patter lay out half the rocket followed by half the tofu then half mung bean and lastly some radish kim chee....then repeat the layer and serve.