Beet & Cauliflower salad, with mustard girdled tofu

I fell for this salad for the sheer contrast in colours. And as I’ve learnt over the past one week, nothing is as interesting as a variety of colours on your plate, especially when you are eating salads.

Adapted from one of the salads from an old issue of BBC GoodFood, this recipe is a sure winner. For the idea of cooking tofu and the pairing of vegetables, of course.

Mustard girdled tofu, beet & cauliflower salad
Preparation time – 15 min
Serves – 1

Ingredients
Cauliflower florets – 1.5 C, blanched in salt water
Beetroot – 1 C, sliced long , steamed [I steamed them in a MW Oven for 5 min]
Tofu – 1/2 packet or 1/2 C, sliced long
Olive oil – 1 Tbsp
Mustard seeds – 2 Tsp [I used yellow mustard seeds]
Dijon mustard paste – 1 Tbsp
Red chilli flakes – 1/2 Tsp
Salt – to taste

Dressing
Honey – 2 Tbsp
Lemon juice – 1 Tbsp
Lemon zest – 1 Tsp, optional
Salt – to taste
Red chilli flakes – 1 Tsp

Instructions
Heat the oil in a pan, and pour the mustard seeds into it once it heats. Add the Dijon mustard paste to this and sauté for 2 min. Sprinkle the salt and red chilli flakes and then place the tofu slices one by one in this pan.
Mix carefully to not break the tofu slices and to ensure that all the tofu pieces are coated with the mustard paste. Let this cook on a medium flame for 5 min.

Plate the steamed beet slices and blanched cauliflower florets along with the mustard girdled tofu. Pour the dressing on top and serve hot.