Cucumber, Tofu and Avocado Salad with Pine Nuts

July 8th, 2009

Image from 101Cookbooks.com

Here is that famous recipe mentioned yesterday, with regular cucumbers instead of the long-lost lemon cucumbers. It’s such a fresh and hearty mix of flavors with the crunch of the cucumber, the zest of lemon and creamy avocado. It can be served over beans, lentils, brown rice, or soba noodles says Heidi at 101Cookbooks. I used her original suggestion which was mung beans and played with her ratios a bit. If you’ve never had a mung bean, they are shaped like a lentil but are more round. When cooked they soften and take on a nice nuttiness which I think balanced the pine nuts in the dish well. You can prepare this dish in advance, making it an awesome summer barbeque accessory. Enjoy!
Serves 2-3

2 cucumbers, quartered then sliced into 1/4 inch thick slices
1 handful of fresh dill (about 2/3 cup loosely packed)
1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
1/4 cup fresh lemon juice
2 big pinches of salt
12 ounces nigari extra firm tofu
1/4 cup pine nuts
1 large, ripe avocado
1 package of mung beans

Bring a large pot of water to a boil on the stove.

While the water is boiling, Toss the cucumbers, dill, olive oil, lemon juice and salt together in a medium bowl. Let sit for at least 20 minutes tossing gently once or twice along the way.

Pour the mung beans into the boil water and let boil until just soft, but not mushy. This should take half an hour.

In the meantime, heat a tablespoon of oil in a skillet. When the oil is hot add the tofu to the pan with a big pinch of salt, for a few minutes, until the pieces are browned on one side. Toss gently once or twice, then continue cooking for another minute or so, until the tofu is firm, golden, and bouncy. Set aside and let cool.

When the tofu is cool cut it into generous cubes.

Spoon the cucumbers out of the lemon-olive oil mixture into a large salad bowl. Add half of the remaining dressing, the tofu, and half of the pine nuts. Gently toss. Taste. Add more dressing or salt if you like.

Remove the mung beans from the water (if any water is remaining) and let cool. Toss with a pinch of salt and pour into a large salad bowl. Pour the cucumber, tofu and pine nuts on top of the mung beans.

Just before serving cut the avocado into cubes. Sprinkle the avocado across the top of the salad and gently toss once or twice to distribute it throughout the salad. Serve topped with the remaining pine nuts.

Related Posts:
Arugula Salad with Tomatoes, Avocado and Pine Nuts

Lemon Cucumbers, Discovered!

Tu B’Shevat (Celebrating Trees, Fruit and Wine)

Filed under Kosher Recipes, Recipes, Side Dishes | Comments (2)

2 Responses to “Cucumber, Tofu and Avocado Salad with Pine Nuts”

  1. Suzee on July 8, 2009 8:48 pm

    Ah – seeing that recipe includes lemon, I’m sure you didn’t miss much with the substitution of cucumbers. Do keep a look out for those watermelon radishes (though I was at a farmers market a couple weeks ago in china town where there weren’t any – I was surprised) Maybe you will get lucky!! Remember they are white on the outside so don’t mistake them for small turnips!

  2. Tu B’Shevat (Celebrating Trees, Fruit and Wine) | At StrumErika.com on January 29, 2010 11:51 am

    [...] Cucumber, Tofu and Avocado Salad with Pine Nuts [...]

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