Quinoa Salad with Fried Tofu and Shimeji (23 May 2014)

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I am not vegetarian however I start to like to cook and eat vegetarian food. Since I moved to Sao Paulo I visited many great restaurants serving mainly vegetarian food and I just love it. It seems like my body also like it because I feel so light after eating it.
One of my favorite vegetarian restaurants is run by Tatiana Cardoso with name Moinho de Pedra. Tatiana´s food is not just about what we put in our mouth to get energy and nutrition, it is so much more. The dishes are beautiful, tasty and eating them is a real pleasure. The place is cozy and people working there are very friendly, you feel like at your grandmother home. In the same building you will find a shop where you can buy good quality ingredients and spices which will make yours cooking more fun. I discovered Moinho de Pedra thanks to my vegetarian friend Sara. Thank you my Dear for opening my eyes for food that I ignored before.

4 servings

1.5 dl quinoa, cooked
150 g tofu, chopped
200 g shimeji
1 small broccoli, cut in small pieces
1 small yellow onion, finely chopped
2 cloves garlic, finely chopped
2 tbsp parsley, finely chopped
1 chili, finely chopped
1 tsp sea salt
juice from 1/2 lime
black pepper
olive oil

Cook the quinoa in a pan with vegetable broth, around 10 minutes.

Separate the shimeji mushrooms and fry them together with chopped onion and chopped garlic around 5- 8 minutes. When the mushrooms are lightly brown move them to a separate plate.

In another frying pan fry tofu, broccoli together with chili around 5 minutes.

In a separate bowl mix quinoa with fried mushrooms, tofu and broccoli. Season the salad with salt, black pepper, lime juice and chopped parsley. Mix well and serve it immediately.

When I was done with the salad I realized that if I would do it again I would add some chopped mango just to give some sweetness to this salad and make it more colorful.