Showing posts with label Salad. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Salad. Show all posts

Friday, October 08, 2010

Flourless Crepes a la HEAB!

After having these for lunch two days in a row I just needed to take a good picture and post here this ridiculously easy recipe that I have been enjoying: Flourless Crepes (or egg crepes as I have been calling at home). The recipe is super easy and I learned it from Heather, from HEAB, one of my favorite blogs!

It is so simple, but turns our so good and delicious that I could not even believe my tastebuds!
After having a bright and sunny morning all for myself with no classes (fall break! yay!) and yoga with my favorite instructor, I came home with a hungry belly and ready for something delicious and quick. Couldn't be more perfect than these!

All you need are 2 eggs and a 1/4 tsp of baking powder, that's it. Whip both together and pour into your preheated (I add a bit of olive oil so it doesn't stick) pan just enough "batter" to fully coat the bottom. Cover with a lid and let it cook for one to two minutes. That's all people, there isn't even a need to flip! Remove from the pan and load your fillings.

Which brings me to the point: the filling. That's what I loved the most about these. I filled mine with chopped tomatoes, chopped avocados (both which I seasoned with salt and pepper) and goat cheese. Oh my world, the creamy filling was amazing! If you never had eggs + avocados then you need to try, it is a great combo. Add some goat cheese and it is incredibly good, soooo creamy, I love it!

I made my crepes in a 8-inch skillet, just because it is my newest one nothing is sticking to it. But you can make them bigger in a 10 or even a 12 inch. Since mine was smallish I made 4 crepes. I know, you only see three of them there, and that is because I could not resist the first one, I simply sprinkled goat cheese on it, rolled it up and went to town... goat cheese and eggs is a pair made in heaven.

I had my crepes on top of a spinach and arugula salad topped with grilled zucchini rounds, pair this with a piece of warm and toasted whole grain bread with a bit of butter and you have a delicious meal without much effort at all.

By the way, I love arugula salad, and wanted to share the way I dress my salad, I don't have real measurements, but here is the method: put arugula into a bowl, season with salt, pepper, a drizzle of olive oil, some sprinkles of white balsamic (or rice) vinegar, and a drizzle of honey! Yep, honey, that's what makes this salad taste so delicious. The sweetness of the honey pairs beautifully with the peppery flavors of the arugula, I love this salad and had it throughout the summer, never get tired of it!

Hope you guys like the Flourless Crepe idea it as much as I and Heather did!
Ana

Monday, September 06, 2010


White Beans and Tomato Salad


First and foremost I want to apologize for the picture above; it simply doesn’t do justice to the recipe I am about to post. Especially since I couldn’t find much more to say about this recipe other than that this is an amazing white bean salad!

It is flavorful and delicious not only in taste but texture wise too. The creaminess of the beans is amazing by itself, but when paired with the chunkiness of the tomatoes and the awesome flavor of the dressing it makes a remarkable dish!

I absolutely loved this dish, and so did the husband and Matheus as well. I made the full recipe, which says serves 6, but since this was the sole source of protein of our meal we managed to polish off the entire bowl of bean salad.

I served the White Bean Salad with homemade pasta (made by the husband – I need to post his pasta creations; he’s been into the noodles lately!) and a green salad made with butter lettuce, baby spinach and arugula (a favorite combo of mine). All I have to say is that the white bean salad was the star of the meal, it was the one thing we all went for seconds (maybe even thirds…!), even the pasta was left behind, which is not a common thing to happen around here with the boys, these are two guys who really like their noodles.

It is a truly delicious recipe, everyone should try!

Ana


Notes: a closer look into my picture will reveal a few white chunks in the salad, which are cooked egg whites I had in the fridge and I incorporated in the salad. It was actually a pretty good addition, not only it tasted delicious with the dressing but I used up some leftovers and upped the protein content of the salad, all at the same time! Yum!


White Beans and Tomato Salad

(Adapted from the simply recipes blog)


1 ½ cups cooked white beans (or 1 can – 15oz)

1 ½ cups chopped tomatoes (roma, cherries, grape…)

1/3 cup chopped parsley

For the dressing:

¼ cup extra virgin olive oil

3 cloves of garlic, peeled and smashed

1 sprig rosemary

¼ cup grated Parmesan cheese

½ teaspoon kosher salt (add more if needed)

Freshly ground black pepper to taste

2 tablespoons lemon juice

1 teaspoon lemon zest


Make the dressing first: put garlic, olive oil and rosemary sprig in a saucepan and heat until the rosemary beings to sizzle. Remove from heat and set aside to let cool for about 10 to 15 minutes.

Discard the rosemary and add the oil and garlic to a blender together with the Parmesan cheese, salt, pepper, lemon juice and zest. Puree all ingredients until smooth.

In a bowl mix together the beans, tomatoes and parsley. Add the dressing and toss gently until everything is coated. Serve immediately or refrigerate until ready to serve.

Serves 6 to 8

Saturday, July 17, 2010

Chicken Salad in Lettuce Cups

Summer is here and I have been enjoying every single second of it! Tons of fruits and fresh veggies, farmer's markets, csa boxes, warm (ok sometimes really hot) weather, lots of homemade popsicles and ice cream, I could not be any happier than this!
It is by far my favorite season, my favorite time of the year, and with the wonderful hot weather we welcome any and all salads we can get our hands on, it is definitely cold foods season and again, I am totally enjoying!
I love salads, and as funny as this may sound, my salads rarely involve tons of leaves (which is what most people think of when talking about salads). I make salads with veggies, lots of it, a mix of colors and flavors, crunch and deliciousness tat pack a punch of nutrition to boot, something that only fresh veggies can give us in one big plate.
Zucchini, yellow squash, bell peppers, amazing summer tomatoes, grilled eggplants and other grilled veggies, avocados, sometimes fruits (watermelon + tomatoes makes an amazing salad!), all of these end up on my salad concoctions. Plus I always add some protein to make it more filling and delicious too: tofu, white beans, lentils or chickpeas (my favorites), grilled chicken, lots of possibilities here, and most of the time I add a bit of cheese too, usually goat cheese, ricotta salatta (both add some white color which make the salad more colorful!) or Parmesan shavings.
Now tell me, how can this be not good? :-)
This talk about salad brings me to this Giada Di Laurentiis recipe for Italian Chicken Salad in Lettuce Cups which I have made numerous times and absolutely love the flavors. I have made it so many times already this summer, and I love it every single time I do.
This salad is packed with good protein from the roasted chicken, crunch from toasted almonds, veggie wonders from delicious roasted peppers and a punch from capers and a delicious vinaigrette, and the best part: you can eat it in cute butter lettuce "cups", which add so much to the meal, I love the experience of playing with your food. Plus I just love butter lettuce, it truly have a "buttery" feel, it is so tender, as I said, I am not big on lettuce, but this is one of my very favorite ones! (I do love spinach salad though, really, really like it!)
You can serve this salad as an appetizer, at a dinner party, whenever you feel like. We have had it for lunch and we love it! All I make is some rice or couscous to accompany it and some more veggies (because I just eat lots of veggies) and we are set.
A refreshing summer meal that is not only filling but totally delicious!
Enjoy!
Ana

Ps: Giada's recipe makes a ton and serves 12, so divide it accordingly to how much you want to make. I usually wing the proportions to make for the three of us (or more when I served it to company), but it is easy to divide in half or in quarters if you need to serve 6 or only 3.
Anyway you decide to divide, don't worry if you have salad left, it is delicious on the next day too!
Also, Giada served it as appetizers and plated every single lettuce cups. I served it "family style", the salad in a big bowl and the lettuce cups in a platter, so each person could put their own portions together, which also ended up offering the option of just eating the salad in your plate without the lettuce if one chose to do so.


Italian Chicken Salad in Lettuce Cups
(Adapted from a recipe by Giada Di Laurentiis)

10 cups shredded cooked chicken (you can use rotisserie chicken, and need about 3 for this much)
2 cups roasted red and yellow bell peppers chopped (drain and pat dry if using
1 1/4 cups paper thin slices of red onions
3/4 cup chopped parsley leaves
3/4 cup toasted slivered almonds
1/2 cup capers, drained
About 1 1/2 cups red wine vinaigrette (recipe bellow)
Salt and pepper to taste
Butter lettuce leaves
4 ounces of Parmesan cheese, shaved with a vegetable peeler

In a large bowl toss together the chicken, bell peppers, onion, parsley, almonds, and capers with enough vinaigrette to season and moisten it. Taste and adjust the seasoning adding salt and pepper as necessary.
Spoon chicken salad into lettuce cups and arrange into plates. Sprinkle with the Parmesan shaving right before serving.

Red Wine Vinaigrette:

1/2 cup red wine vinegar
1/4 cup lemon juice
2 teaspoons honey
2 teaspoons salt
Freshly ground black pepper
1 cup olive oil

In a blender add vinegar, lemon juice, honey, salt, and pepper. Turn it on to mix and, while the machine is running, add the oil and blend until emulsified.
Yield: 1 3/4 cups

Friday, June 04, 2010

Lentil Salad

I have been on a lentil kick this past few weeks, which is a good thing as, with all the protein, fiber and iron they have, lentils are not only delicious but also nutritious and super good for you.
Yesterday I cooked some lentils in veggie broth and a smashed garlic clove and ate a full cup of it just drizzled with olive oil and a bit of grated Parmesan on top with my lunch, boy was that delicious. So simple but awesome in flavor!

The other day though I decided to do something a bit more elaborate with my plain jane lentils and I dressed them up a little making one of the best lentil salads I have ever made or eaten. I didn't make a note of quantities as I just did it by taste, but it is so simple to make that an exact recipe is certainly not necessary.
I mixed up cooked lentils with chopped sun-dried tomatoes, fresh thyme, and fresh oregano. Then I seasoned it all with balsamic vinegar, olive oil, salt and pepper. To complete the goodness and add a nice salty touch to it I sprinkled a few small cubes of ricotta salatta cheese on top and that was it. As simple as that, as delicious as it could be!
I absolutely loved the lentils with the sun-dried tomatoes and the balsamic, just awesome! Plus the fresh herbs made it all the better.
Just an idea for a great side dish to company meals (and leafy green salads) during the warmer months. I really like beans and lentils and during the summer I love to add them to my salads, yum!!
Enjoy!
Ana

Monday, November 09, 2009

A recipe you must try and get ready for pumpkin recipes!

One of my dearest friends here from the US gave us a huge pumpkin the other day. An organic, healthy and plump gigantic pumpkin that she grows on her backyard (she has lots of space for growing stuff!). She first said it was a big guy she had on the back of her car, but I never expected it to be as huge as it really was. Don't believe me? Take a look for yourself:

The big baby sitting on my kitchen chair












Told ya! It was truly ginormous, as Matheus said when he first saw it!
Took me a while to tackle it, open and get the whole thing roasted and pureed for storage, but it was worth every second and effort spent. The pumpkin was amazingly delicious, the flesh was bright orange and sweet. Look at this beauty on the inside, is it pretty or what?













When I first brought it to the house we all got super excited not just because it was so fun to have a pumpkin that size but also because we LOVE pumpkin around here! And I mean really love it!
Ideas could not stop coming out of our mouths, pumpkin muffins was the first request, followed by pumpkin pie and for me it meant lots of my winter favorite: pumpkin soup!
From the humongous orange friend I got 10 cups of deliciousness in form of puree that I stashed right into the freezer plus about 8 more cups that I left in the fridge and started using right away.
I first made some of the frequently requested by the boys Pumpkin Muffins, next was my favorite Pumpkin Leek Soup, followed by a Savory Pumpkin Pie (which I didn't take pics but you can find the recipe in Portuguese here, and be warned, it is the best and easiest "Torta de Abobora" you will ever come across, I have made it many times here and we love it, Thanks Lica! Torta de Abobora da Eliana), and this weekend we had some of the most tasty Pumpkin Pies we ever made.
Seriously, this pumpkin is so tasty that every single item I made with it was amazing, oh and the puree warmed up with salt, pepper, and butter.... oh my, it was di-vi-ne!
But all the talk about the pumpkin brings me to the recipe I want to post today, and this truly is a "must try recipe". I saw Ina Garten make this on TV and immediately said to myself "have to try that", it looked and sounded so delicious, and how could roasted butternut squash + greens + cider vinaigrette not sound wonderfull?
The Roasted Squash Salad with Warm Cider Vinaigrette is AMAZING! (pardon my shouting, but this is just too good....) It is fall on a plate, in salad form!
The best part of this? The Cider Vinaigrette. If you don't want to make everything then don't worry, but definitely try this vinaigrette at some point, it is to die for, it is the quintessential "fall-ish" vinaigrette, so delicious, and extremely flavorful.
The sweetness of the reduced apple cider is balanced beautifully by the acidity of the vinegar, the onioness of the shallots and the bite of the dijon mustard. Salt, pepper, and olive oil just round all the flavors out tying them together in one wonderful salad dressing. Believe me, you won't be sorry if you try this.
But so much for talking, let me post this recipe here so you can make it too!
Note that I made this salad multiple times already and the picture on the top of this post was actually made with roasted acorn squash, which was equally delicious as when I made with butternut or the pumpkin I got from my friend, which is the picture bellow:

This was the salad made with the bright orange pumpkin. On this one though the Parmesan was sprinkled on the spinach and it just disappeared when I drizzled the warm dressing, plus I didn't have the walnuts when I made this one.









However, if you do have walnuts at home make sure you use them, the salad was definitely tastier with those crunchy roasted walnut bits in contrast to the slightly wilted leaves, the warm dressing and the soft squash chunks... yum, just writing about it makes my mouth water!

I have been having fun at the kitchen making lots of pumpkin recipes and there are some that are just too good to be kept only for us and I must share, so be prepared for some more pumpkin goodness to show up here soon. Oh if you see a girl with a slightly orange skin walking around NC... there's a good chance it is me, I am afraid I will soon be looking like a walking carrot with the copious amount of wonderful beta-carotene I have been eating lately!
Ana

Here is my version of the salad, if you want to see the original one, click here

Roasted Squash Salad with Warm Cider Vinaigrette
(adapted by an Ina Garten's recipe)

1 butternut or acorn squash, peeled and diced
Salt, pepper and olive oil to roast the squash
1/3 cup toasted walnut pieces
1/3 cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese (the good stuff!)
4 cups baby spinach leaves, or arugula, or a mix of the two
1 cup apple cider - or apple juice
2 tablespoons apple cider vinegar
2 tablespoons minced shallots
2 teaspoons Dijon mustard
1/4 cup olive oil
Salt and pepper to season the dressing

Preheat your oven to 400F.
Place squash on a sheet pan lined with foil (easy clean up!), season with salt, pepper and a good dose of olive oil (it adds amazing flavor and prevent stickiness), toss all together, spread the squash cubes in one layer and roast for about 20 minutes, turning them around the 10 minutes mark to make sure they cook and brown evenly.
While the squash roast combine the apple cider, shallots, and the cider vinegar in a small pan, bring to a boil and cook until the cider is reduced to about 1/4 cup. Remove from heat and whisk in the mustard and olive oil, season with salt and pepper to taste.
(My observation: after tasting refrain from eating the vinaigrette by teaspoons... it taste that good!)
Place the spinach (or arugula) in a big plate or salad bowl, add the walnuts and Parmesan, drizzle the vinaigrette over the leaves, place the roasted squash on top of everything and serve. (you can also put the squash to the bowl with everything else then add the vinaigrette and toss it all together, I like to keep the squash on top as mine were soft and delicate, an oh so good...)

Monday, August 25, 2008

Caprese Salad

No mater how you present it, skewered in appetizer form, cut into cubes, with both tomatoes and cheese displayed in a sliced manner, Caprese Salad is one of my favorite summer dishes!
Here we had red and yellow tomatoes, both from out backyard, fresh basil leaves and the sinfully creamy and ultra delicious fresh mozzarella (I love this cheese!), all covered in great olive oil, salt, pepper and a touch of balsamic vinegar.... sooo good! I can have only this for a meal and be happy all day!
Ana

Wednesday, May 30, 2007

Italian Panzanella!!!

We just had it for lunch today and I had to come here and post it to share!
I saw the recipe at Fernanda's blog and it looked so pretty and refreshing that I had to try.
It's been nice and hot here these past few days, just as we like it, so fresh and simple meals are all we need to cope with the heat.
This salad has the bonus of being made in advance and enough protein from beans and cheese that enable you to have it as a one course meal.
And I have to say that this was one of the best vegetarian salad meals I have ever had!!!!
Really good and yummy, I loooooved the flavor, which although very simple were tasty enough to keep me going for more.
I made half recipe in the morning and had with Matheus for lunch, we polished off the entire thing, so good!
The crusty bread really absorbed the flavors and was Matheus' favorite part. I just loved white beans and those creamy white pearl together with the tomatoes were my favorite by far!
My only change was to use thinly sliced zucchini instead of the cucumbers and it was also great this way! (I do prefer zucchini and it was what I had on hand).
For those who don't like the raw onion sharp flavors I leave here a tip, which I use often as Matheus is not the biggest fan of the onion in the raw: after slicing the onions put them in a small container filled with cold water and a pinch of sugar, leave there while you prepare your dish - the onions will loose the sharp/spicy bite and get more of a mellow flavor, revealing some of its natural sweetness.
I know more people are going to like this one, it is perfect for the summer days when we don't even want to think about turning on the stove, and it will certainly be made over and over around here for the months to come!!
Enjoy!!
Ana

Italian Panzanella

For the recipe in English click here!

For the recipe in Portuguese, and a quick look at Fernanda's awesome blog, click here!

Sunday, December 10, 2006

Roasted Squash, yum!!

This was a dish I made this weekend and came out very good. I don’t have an actual recipe for it, but more a method of preparation for roasting the squash.
Butternut is by far my favorite of the winter squashes. It is sweet and creamy, and when roasted it gets mellow and better tasting yet. I really like this squash, especially when roasted and pureed into a soup, but baked like this, into chunks, it became so soft and intense in flavor that each cube provided the most pleasant taste sensations to my taste buds.
I peeled, deseeded, seasoned with olive oil, salt, and pepper, and roasted the squash at 400F for about 40 minutes. I threw in a diced red pepper into the oven with the squash at the last fifteen minutes of the baking time, just to get an extra flavor in there. The peppers got mellow and sweet, soft and delicious as only red bell peppers can get, plus the flavor went really well with the squash.
After roasting, the squash and peppers can be tossed with simple balsamic vinaigrette, to punch up the flavors even more. I then laid them on top of a bed of fresh spinach (seasoned with salt and pepper) and sprinkled with crumbled goat cheese.
The salad was delicious, tasty, and just talking about it is making my mouth water for some more.
I guess I will have to buy some more butternut squash this week!
Ana

Sunday, September 24, 2006

Multibean Salad

I wanted to make a different salad this week for our lunch, you know, we have had so many tomatoes and zucchini salad over the summer that I decided to change things a bit.
This salad was exactly what I wanted, nice and refreshing, colorful and very tasty, all in one bowl! It was a very happy mix of veggies in my opinion, and the vinaigrette complemented it all nicely. I followed the recipe, but omitted the bell pepper (didn’t have) and used a different kind of vinegar (what I had on hand). To be true, I don’t think that made a difference at all, because at the end the salad was very flavorfull just the way I made!
Ana

Multibean Salad
(Adapted from Cooking Light, April/05)

2 cups green beans (about 8 ounces)
2 cups wax beans (about 8 ounces)
1 cup frozen shelled edamame (green soybeans)
1 cup grape or cherry tomatoes, halved
1/2 cup finely chopped orange bell pepper
1/2 cup thinly sliced red onion
2 tablespoons sherry vinegar
1/2 teaspoon sugar
1/4 teaspoon Dijon mustard
2 teaspoons olive oil
1/4 cup chopped fresh parsley
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

Cook or steam
beans and edamame until they are crisp-tender. Drain and put beans into ice water; drain. Combine beans, tomatoes, bell pepper, and onion in a large bowl.
Combine vinegar, sugar, and mustard, stirring with a whisk. Gradually add oil to vinegar mixture, stirring constantly with a whisk. Stir in parsley, salt, and black pepper. Drizzle vinaigrette over bean mixture; toss gently to coat.
Yield: 6 servings (serving size: about 1 cup)

Thursday, July 27, 2006

Greek Bulgur Salad with Chicken

Another great recipe for summertime! This is basically a tabbouleh salad with chicken and feta cheese added to it. Could not be bad!
It is refreshing, tasty and filling, perfect for the hot days when we don’t want to get involved with too much cooking. It works great with any kind of leftover chicken you may have roasted or grilled, besides the idea of using rotisserie chicken as the recipes states. And a good thing about this salad is that it gets even better as it sits, so making it ahead of time is a plus in terms of flavors here!
This makes a ton of salad, and the one in the picture I made for a picnic we had with Matheus’ school friends. It was a hit and many asked for the recipe, so we (Matheus and me) were not the only ones to like this one!
In the picture you may notice that there is no cheese, and it is so because a few of the friends were allergic to it, so I actually had the feta cheese in a separate bowl and people added to their salad as they liked. However, if you can eat cheese, by any means throw it in the salad because it sure adds nice flavor to it!
And since we are on the subject of pictures, I want to apologize about my latest photos, something is going on with the camera and the pics are almost all getting sort of blurry… we are trying to figure out what it is, in the meantime I hope you can still get a good image of the goodies.
Ana

Greek Bulgur Salad with Chicken
4 1/2 cups water
3 cups uncooked medium bulgur
3/4 cup fresh lemon juice (about 3 lemons), divided
2 teaspoons salt, divided
2 1/2 cups chopped skinless, boneless rotisserie chicken breast
2 1/2 cups chopped peeled cucumber
2 cups halved grape tomatoes
1 cup chopped fresh parsley
1/2 cup thinly sliced fresh basil
1/2 cup finely chopped red onion
1/2 cup (2 ounces) crumbled feta cheese
1/4 cup extravirgin olive oil
1/2 teaspoon black pepper
10 kalamata olives, pitted and chopped (I added more, as 1 olive per person seemed to little to me!)

Combine water, bulgur, ½ cup juice, and 1-teaspoon salt in a large saucepan; bring to a boil over medium-high heat. Cover, reduce heat, and simmer 5 minutes. Remove from heat; let stand 15 minutes or until liquid is absorbed. Uncover and cool to room temperature.
Combine remaining ¼ cup juice, remaining 1 teaspoon salt, and remaining ingredients in a large bowl; toss to combine. Add cooled bulgur mixture; toss well to combine. Cover and chill.
Yield: 10 servings (serving size: about 1 2/3 cups)

Saturday, July 22, 2006

Super yummy salad!

This was one of the best “complete-meal-salad” dishes I have ever had! Deliciously nutty quinoa is paired with tomatoes, chickpeas, carrots, edamame, and a delicious basil-lemon dressing to complete the goodness! Even tofu was added to the mix, and I was so happy, because this was my most successful attempt to prepare tofu for savory dishes! Yessss! Now we are definitely going to have tofu more often, because Matheus and me really liked it! (The husband tried, said it was good, and when I said it was tofu he did not eat it anymore… men, hopeless, I know… sigh)
The basil-lemon dressing is one of the best salad dressings I have had in a while, I usually make a variety of vinaigrettes to go with our salads, using different kinds of vinegar and all, but this one is super simple and the flavor is just unbeatable, the best in my opinion and for sure is going to be made many and many more times at our home!
It is an amazing salad, complete with vegetables, carbs, and protein; a perfect one-dish meal for the hot summer days, I truly enjoyed it today and could not wait to come post it here!
The original recipe called for black beans, which are not my favorite, and since I loooove chickpeas I used it instead. I also subbed edamame for lima beans, not only because I didn’t have them, but also because I love edamame, and I guessed thee flavor would go well here - and it did!
I am posting bellow my adapted recipe, it was so successful as is that I don’t want to change a thing! And in case you would like to see the original recipe, take a peek at the Cooking Light website and it will be there for the black beans lovers too! Hehe!
By the way, if you are not a tofu fan I am pretty sure this would be just as tasty with some cooked chicken in its place - gotta try it that way too!
Ana

Quinoa and Chickpea Salad with Basil Lemon Dressing
3/4 cups uncooked quinoa
1 1/2 cups vegetable broth
½ package (7-ounce) firm tofu, cut into 1/4-inch cubes
1 1/2 tablespoons olive oil, divided
1/2 cup chopped fresh basil
1 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
1 tablespoons Dijon mustard
1 small garlic cloves, minced
½ cup cooked edamame

2 cups chopped tomatoes
1/4 cup chopped carrot (I blanched mine)
1/2 (15-ounce) can chickpeas, rinsed and drained
Salt and pepper to taste

Bring quinoa and broth to a boil over medium-high heat. Cover, reduce heat, and simmer 15 minutes or until broth is absorbed and quinoa is cooked. Remove from heat.
Place tofu on several layers of paper towels; cover with additional paper towels. Let stand 5 minutes. Heat 1-tablespoon oil in a large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. Add tofu; sprinkle with salt and pepper. Sauté tofu until lightly browned (about 8 minutes or so). Remove from heat and let cool.
In a small bowl mix 1/2-tablespoon olive oil, basil, lemon juice, mustard, and garlic. Stir in quinoa. Add the edamame, tofu, tomatoes, carrots, and chickpeas to quinoa mixture; stir to combine. Keep in the fridge until ready to serve.

Yield: 5 servings (serving size about 1cup)