Low FODMAP Tofu Chick'n Caesar Salad
A gorgeous light salad with bright lemony flavours that's rich in protein.
Servings: 4 servings
Equipment
- Large baking sheet/tray
- Large flat dish
- Food processor
- Grater
Ingredients
Crispy chickpeas
- 160 g (1 cup) canned chickpeas/garbanzo beans (<42 g or ¼ cup pp is low FODMAP in GOS)
- 1 tbsp rapeseed or plain vegetable oil
- Salt & pepper to taste
- Zest of one unwaxed lemon
Tofu chicken
- ~400 g (1 pack) extra-firm tofu (pre-pressed at least 30 mins, overnight if possible)
- 175 ml (¾ cup) low FODMAP vegetable stock (I use Fody powdered veg stock for convenience)
- 60 ml (¼ cup) tamari/soy sauce (use gluten-free tamari if needed)
- 1 tbsp nutritional yeast (optional but worth it)
- 1 tbsp garlic oil
- 1 tbsp onion oil (I use Fody's shallot oil, but another tbsp garlic oil is fine)
- 1 tsp smoked paprika
- 1 tsp liquid smoke (optional but worth it)
Caesar dressing
- 4 tbsp (~80 g) tahini
- 2 tbsp coconut yoghurt/lactose free yoghurt (look for good quality, minimal ingredient non-sweetened yoghurt)
- 1 tbsp garlic oil
- 1 lemon, juiced
- 2 tsp Dijon mustard
- Dash of tamari/soy sauce (use gluten-free tamari if needed)
- Salt & pepper to taste
Salad
- 3 heads of romaine/4 gem lettuces
- 4 tbsp pine nuts
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 240°C/465°F.
- Drain and rinse the chickpeas (I like to store any spare in a jar in their liquid). Dry thoroughly and add to a baking sheet/tray. Toss with the rapeseed oil, salt and pepper to taste.
- When the oven is hot, cook the chickpeas for 25 minutes. Shake the tray occasionally until they are crispy and you start to hear them pop. I usually partially cover the tray with foil (letting air in) for when they pop.
- Add all of the tofu marinade ingredients to a large shallow dish and mix together.
- Slice the tofu thinly into ~15x ¼ inch/~½ cm thin slices and lay all of them flat in the marinade dish. Leave the tofu to marinade for 30 minutes and flip halfway through if they are not completely submerged.
- Zest the lemon and set zest aside.
- When the chickpeas are done, take them out of the oven and lower the temperature of the oven to 205°C/400°F. Put them onto some kitchen paper and toss them with the lemon zest and leave to dry out and crisp.
- Place the tofu on a large baking sheet lined with baking paper, ensuring space between each slice. Bake tofu for 25 minutes, flipping over half way, until they are golden brown.
- While the tofu is cooking, prepare the dressing. Add all the dressing ingredients to a food processor with ~3 tbsp of water (more if preferred), and blitz until smooth. The dressing will firm up in the fridge so you can always add more water later to get a creamy consistency.
- Wash, dry and roughly chop the salad leaves.
- Compile the salad and split ingredients between four plates. Start with the leaves, top with crispy lemon chickpeas and pine nuts. When the tofu chicken is done, rough chop ~4 slices and scatter over the top of each plate. Drizzle the dressing over the top and enjoy!