Mex-inspired warm salad

A warm salad will have you dreaming of Mexico, any time of year. Spice this up with a delicious ranch-style dressing that’s vegan and super quick to make!

A warm salad can delight guests or serve as a quick and easy lunch. This recipe is an easy one to adjust as needed and make it your own. Great way to make use of leftovers after a nacho, taco, or burrito night!

INGREDIENTS & DIRECTIONS

Estimated time: 35-40 minutes

Effort/Skill: Easy

Makes: 4 servings

Salad Ingredients

• 1 cup of frozen corn, steamed

• 1 red pepper, chopped

• 1 whole tomato, or 12 cherry tomatoes, chopped finely

• 3 sprigs of green onion, finely chopped

• 1-14 oz can of red kidney beans

• 1 avocado, sliced

• 1 head romaine lettuce, chopped

• 2 cups of cooked Brown, Jasmine or Basmati rice

• 1 cup of well-rinsed broccoli sprouts (any sprouts will do, but the broccoli and radish sprouts add in more nutrients and some punch to the tastebuds)

• 1/4 cup pumpkin seeds

Tofu Ingredients

• 1 x 350g package of extra firm tofu

• 1/4 cup nutritional yeast

• 2 tbsp lime juice

• 1 tsp oregano

• 1 tsp basil

• 1 tbsp chili powder

• 1 tsp onion powder

• 1 clove garlic minced

• 1 tbsp avocado oil

Dressing

• 1/4 cup plain vegan yogurt (oat or coconut) - I like the greek-style oat yogurt best

• 2 tbsp lime juice

• zest from 1 lime

• 1/4 tsp salt

• 1 tsp chili powder

• 1 tbsp nutritional yeast

• 1/4 cup avocado oil

• 1/4 cup water

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 400F

2. In a medium bowl, crumble the tofu into bite sized chunks. Add the tofu seasoning ingredients, except the oil.

3. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper, and spread the tofu evenly on the sheet. Drizzle oil over the tofu sparingly and bake at 400F for about 20 minutes, or until crisp.

4. While the tofu bakes, cook your rice according to the directions on the package, or if you’re using a rice cooker, go with their directions.

5. If you’re using frozen corn, steam until cooked. I like to heat up my beans a little in a saucepan over low heat. You can add more spice here if you’d like. I suggest keeping the spice similar to the tofu spices, but salt & pepper can do the trick too.

6. Prepare the salad ingredients and set aside.

7. Once the rice and tofu are fully cooked, let them cool until warm while you prepare the dressing.

8. Add all dressing ingredients into a blender and mix well together. Alternatively, you can whisk them together well.

9. Place your salad ingredients together, saving room for the rice and tofu.

10. Top with dressing and pumpkin seeds.

11. Enjoy your warm salad and dream of a beach in Mexico.