Grilled Tofu with Grapefruit and Avocado Salsa

Submitted by TishT

"Got this low fat, tasty main vegetarian recipe from a grocery store in Los Angeles. Presentation is beautiful, and it tastes as good as it looks. Try to marinate the tofu for as long as you can. Prep time includes minimal marinade time."

 

• Ready In: 3hrs 20mins
• Ingredients: 11
• Serves: 4

ingredients

• 2 packages firm tofu
• 2 texas star red grapefruits
• 3 navel oranges
• 4 teaspoons olive oil
• 3⁄4 teaspoon cayenne pepper
• 1⁄4 teaspoon salt, divided
• 1⁄2 red bell pepper, seeded and minced (about 1/2 cup)
• 1⁄4 red onion, minced (about 1/4 cup)
• 2 tablespoons fresh cilantro, minced and packed
• 1 bag florentine Baby Spinach, washed and dried when ready to cook
• 1⁄2 avocado, ripe but firm,diced just before cooking

directions

1. Drain the tofu packages and remove the tofu.
2. Slice the blocks horizontally so they are half their original height.
3. Cut the rectangles diagonally into 2 triangles each.
4. Set them on paper towels to drain while you prepare the marinade.
5. Halve one grapefruit and one orange and squeeze 1/2 cup of juice from each.
6. Stir in 1 Tbs of olive oil.
7. Dob the tops of the tofu with more paper towels.
8. Arrange the tofu in a single layer in a large dish.
9. Season with the cayenne pepper and 1/8 tsp salt.
10. Mix the marinade well and pour it over the tofu.
11. Cover with plastic wrap and allow to marinate over night or for at least several hours, turning once.
12. Make the salsa now if you have time.
13. Peel the remaining grapefruit and oranges.
14. Use a paring knife to remove the outer membrane.
15. Work over a bowl to catch the juices, and cut between the membranes to release the segments.
16. Repeat with the oranges.
17. Halve each fruit segment.
18. Add the diced bell pepper, red onion, and cilantro.
19. Season with remaining 1/8 tsp of salt.
20. Cover and refrigerate.
21. When you're ready to cook the tofu, heat a grill pan over high heat and add 1 tsp olive oil (or use a non-stick frying pan).
22. Add the tofu and marinade and cook about 3 minutes on each side, turning gently with tongs or a spatula.
23. Remove the tofu and add the spinach to the pan.
24. Stir it around briefly so it just wilts, about 1-2 minutes.
25. Arrange spinach in the center of 4 plates.
26. Lay 2 triangles of tofu on top.
27. Spoon grapefruit salsa around the tofu and garnish with fresh avocado chunks.

Reviews

[magpie diner]

We really enjoyed this! I scaled down the recipe to one package of tofu, and used 1 grapefruit and 2 oranges. We grilled the tofu, and I forgot all about serving it over a bed of spinach. Just the tofu and the salsa together is great, although I'm sure the spinach would be a wonderful addition. Definitely try to marinate this overnight, the marinade is pretty subtle and can use as much time with the tofu as possible. Just before serving I added the chopped avocado to the salsa and really loved that part of the dish! Thanks Tish!

 

[BerrySweet]

Used only 1 package of tofu (only 2 of us) and used 1 each of the grapefruit & orange. Left all other measurements the same. Grilled the tofu outside, and discarded the extra marinade. The taste is 4 stars- really nice citrus with a kick from the cayenne. The presentation is 5 stars- gorgeous!

 

[stillyriver2003]

This is wonderful! I love grapefruit, tofu, cilantro and the other ingredients, but I had never dreamed of combining them. It was delicious and looked so colorful. I marinaded it overnight as suggested. I added more cilantro because I love it. I also added cayenne pepper to the salsa because I like spice. The prep time was long, but it was worth it. Thank-you for sharing such a great recipe!

 

[Kumquat the Cats fr]

Nice! The salsa alone was a 5 star recipe. I also liked the cayenne in the tofu that accompanied the salsa as it complemented it well. Spinach gave it color and vitamin A. Note the following: You'll need a large pan to grill all pieces at the same time, otherwise doing it in batches means you'll have to keep the tofu warm. Juice from 1 orange, for me anyway, was less than 1/4 cup but grapefruit juice more than made up the difference to make 1 cup marinade. Removing the inner membrane from the oranges in particular was a pain, so I mostly left them intact. Salsa though was absolutely fantastic so it was more than worth the effort. Finally, I marinated overnight and if you like cilantro, I recommend adding more. Overall I highly recommend this recipe, I think you'll love how it tastes. Thanks Tish!