HelloFresh Canada Review: Ecuadorian-Style Crispy Tofu

HelloFresh Canada delivers fresh ingredients and healthy, chef-curated recipes based on seasonal farm fresh ingredients straight to your doorstep each week. Every week HelloFresh members choose three meals from a selection of award-winning, constantly-changing recipes (say goodbye to recipe boredom!).

We recently reviewed our April HelloFresh Canada delivery and now we are showing you the last of three recipes from our monthly delivery. Oh, and if you aren’t familiar with HelloFresh Canada you can get all the details in THIS POST.

Coupon Code: Use Coupon Code AYOB3FP to receive 3 FREE plates on your first order at HelloFresh Canada – CLICK HERE

Let’s have a look at today’s recipe:

Ecuadorian-Style Crispy Tofu with Charred Vegetables and Pickled Onion

We’re all about learning new techniques to jazz up vegetables. Goodbye steamed veggies! Once you’ve tried these charred green beans and corn you’ll be using this technique to add flavour to all your meals in the future!

Ingredients:

• 350 g Extra-Firm Tofu
• 3 tbsp Cornstarch
• ¾ cup White Quinoa
• 1 unit Lime
• 10 g Cilantro
• 170 g Green Beans, trimmed
• 113 g Corn Kernels
• 56 g Red Onion, sliced
• 1 tbsp Mexican Seasoning
• 1 unit Jalapeño
• 2 tbsp White Wine Vinegar

Directions:

1. Charring is a cooking technique in which food is cooked so that the surface burns or ‘chars’ to a nice dark-brown colour. Allowing the veggies to cook, without stirring, allows the natural sugars to caramelize and adds flavour.
2. Wash and dry all produce.* In a medium pot, bring 1 1/3 cups salted water to a boil. Pat the tofu dry with paper towels, then cut into 1/2-inch cubes. In a medium bowl, combine the tofu, cornstarch and Mexican Seasoning. Toss to coat completely. Season with salt and pepper.
3. In a strainer, rinse the quinoa, then add to the boiling water. Reduce the heat to medium-low. Cover and cook, until the quinoa is tender and the water has been absorbed, 12-15 min. Leave the lid on and set aside. Meanwhile, cut the green beans in half. Finely chop the jalapeño, removing the seeds for less heat. Zest, then juice the lime.
4. Heat a small pot over high heat. Add the onions, vinegar, 1 tsp sugar and 1/4 cup water. Cook, until the onions soften, 4-5 min. Season with salt. Remove from heat and set aside. Roughly chop the cilantro. In another medium bowl, combine lime zest, lime juice, half the cilantro and 2 tbsp oil. Set aside.
5. Heat a large non-stick pan over medium-high heat. Add a drizzle of oil, then the tofu. Cook, turning the cubes occasionally, on all sides, until crispy and golden-brown, 2-3 min per side. Transfer the tofu to the lime marinade bowl. Toss to combine. Wipe the pan clean.
6. Using the same pan, reduce the heat to medium. Add a drizzle of oil, then the green beans, corn and as much jalapeño as you like. Season with salt. Do not stir. Cover and cook, turning once halfway through cooking, until the veggies are dark golden-brown, 4 min
7. Add the remaining cilantro, veggies and 1 tbsp oil into the quinoa and toss together. Divide the veggie quinoa and crispy tofu between plates. Top with the pickled onions and drizzle over any remaining pickling liquid.

Thoughts: I saved the best for last. This recipe has me really excited. Just look at how gorgeous it is!! It’s everything I look for in a good recipe. It has lots of colours, lots of veggies, lots of flavour and most importantly, it is extremely healthy. The quinoa and tofu provide adequate amounts of protein for us vegans and the portion sizes were absolutely perfect. I loved the simplicity; no fancy sauces or added dairy. This is easily one of the best recipes I have received from HelloFresh Canada thus far. I would love to see more recipes like this in future deliveries.

XOXO