Sweet Chili Lime Tofu with Quinoa

What can I say about this dish? Oh...just that this dish was utterly amazing! My husband even loved it. This is the final dish of my three-part tofu excursion and this by far can be categorized as 'saved the best for last'. I am not vegetarian or vegan, but I love veggies and I also love tofu and this dish alone has to be my new favorite way to eat tofu. 
The flavors were so delicious and fresh and like nothing I'd ever tasted. The  extra firm tofu was dry fried and then caramelized with a sweet lime glaze. It was to die for! The quinoa also had lime and a pinch of cinnamon that complemented the sweet lime tofu perfectly. Then, the roasted Baby Bok Choy...pure heaven on a plate. But, don't take my word for it...well maybe you should in this case, but definitely try this super flavorful and wonderful dish. You will be amazed and happy you did.

Sweet Chili Lime Tofu with Quinoa (slightly adapted recipe from Vegan Yum Yum)
Serves 4

1 block tofu, extra firm

3 small baby Bok Choy, halved

Sweet Chili Lime Sauce
6 T sugar
6 T soy sauce
3 1/2 T fresh lime juice
zest of one lime
1 t red chili flakes (or 1-2 fresh hot chilies, minced)
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 T sesame oil (I added this ingredient)
1/2 t salt
8 mint leaves (I used some lemon basil leaves from my garden)

Quinoa
1 cup pre-rinsed Quinoa
zest of half a lime
pinch of cinnamon
1/4 t salt
1 3/4 cup chicken broth + 1/4 cup water

Prepare Quinoa:
Put all ingredients in a small saucepan. Heat quinoa until water begins to boil. Cover and reduce heat to medium and continue to boil for 20 minutes. After 20 minutes, turn off heat and let sit covered for another 10 minutes to finish cooking. Fluff with fork when ready to serve.

Prepare Baby Bok Choy:

Preheat oven to 450 degrees. Cut washed baby bok choy in half and place in a roasting pan. Lightly brush bok choy with garlic infused olive oil and salt and pepper. Roast for about 15 minutes. 

Prepare Tofu: 
Drain tofu and cut tofu block into 1/2 inch thick slices. Now you will have rectangular slices that you'll cut into two squares by cutting each rectangle in half width-wise. Further cut the squares into small triangles by cutting each square diagonally. Place tofu triangles in a dry non-stick skillet.

Dry fry tofu on medium heat. Pressing down on tofu with a spatula, releases liquid. Fry until tofu is golden and turn over to brown other side. Turn off heat and set tofu aside until ready to serve.







Prepare Sweet Chili Lime Sauce by whisking all ingredients together in a small bowl. 

Bring the skillet with browned tofu back up to temperature. Turn on high heat to heat tofu thoroughly and heat the pan. Add the sweet chili lime sauce to the hot pan, stirring to coat the tofu. Allow the sauce to bubble and the sugar to glaze the tofu. Turn off heat to make sure you don't scorch the sauce but allow it to continue to heat and reduce in the still hot pan. Serve over a bed of quinoa and a side of baby bok choy. Garnish with sesame seeds and lemon basil or mint leaves.