Spicy Lime Noodle Salad

Good morning.  Today’s lunchbox is a bit of a redo of last Friday’s lunch, which was a lovely impromptu noodle salad.  If you are new to this blog, I have been documenting my lunchboxes since September 1 – originally it was in an effort to get inspiration for a guest blog post, but I have received such a great response that I have continued this series indefinitely.

In an effort to move beyond eating kale and spinach as my main source of greens, I bought some bok choy this past weekend at the farmer’s market, mainly because I remembered that the Twins have done green smoothies with bok choy (and they promised me that a non-banana-based green smoothie can still be good).  The bok choy was so lovely though, I did not want to put all of it in the blender, and since I had a craving for a refreshing noodle salad, I decided to incorporate it into my lunch as well as my smoothie snacks.  So today’s lunch and two snacks are:

• Spicy Lime Noodle Salad with Grilled Tofu (see below for recipe)
• Apple-bok choy green smoothies – since this was my first attempt, I am going to hold off sharing a recipe.  This smoothie combination is good, but I feel like it needs something more. 

I am submitting the Spicy Lime Noodle Salad with Grilled Tofu to No Croutons Required as the focus of the event this month is noodles. No Croutons Required  always has a lovely round-up of salads and soups around a specific theme and is hosted this month by Jacqueline of Tinned Tomatoes.

Spicy Lime Noodle Salad with Grilled Tofu (Gluten-Free, Vegan)
Serves one for as a generous entree or two to three as a side dish

• 5oz of extra-firm tofu, pressed and cut into cubes (about a third of a  pound-sized block)
• 2 to 3oz rice noodles (I used a 2oz square of these Star Anise brown rice noodles I recently discovered)
• 1 tsp toasted sesame oil
• 1 Tbsp lime juice (juice of about half a lime)
• 1 to 2 tsps hot sauce (I used this homemade garlicky hot sauce)
• 1 cup bok choy, cut into thin strips
• 1/2 cup of red pepper, chopped (about one small red pepper)
• 1-2 scallions, finely sliced
• 1 Tbsp toasted sesame seeds

Cook the pressed tofu in a dry non-stick skillet, turning the pieces until all sides are golden.  Set aside. Cook the noodles according to package directions (the Star Anise ones take just a minute in boiling water and then need to be rinsed).  Once the noodles are ready (and rinsed, if applicable), toss the noodles with the toasted sesame oil and add the remaining ingredients. I like to add the lime juice and the hot sauce to the noodles before the vegetables because that way the noodles get the bulk of the flavor and the vegetables hold up well in a lunchbox, but it is obviously up to you. Garnish the salad with the tofu and sesame noodles.

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