Thick slices of tofu fried until crisp, with lentils and garlicky kale and lemon. Vegan, twenty minutes, and the highest protein of the vegan dinners.
Lentils are measured cooked; 200 g cooked is about 80 g dry, or a drained tin.
- Ready in20 minutes
- Prep6 min
- Cook14 min
- Serves1
Ingredients
- 250 g firm tofu
- 150 g lentils (cooked, or canned and drained)
- 80 g kale
- 8 g olive oil
- 10 g lemon or lime juice
- 2 cloves garlic
Method
- Press the tofu well and cut it into four thick slabs. Season with salt and pepper.
- Heat the olive oil in a large pan over medium-high heat and fry the tofu for four to five minutes a side until golden and crisp.
- Move the tofu aside, add the crushed garlic and the kale with a splash of water, and cook for three minutes until the kale wilts.
- Warm the lentils, squeeze the lemon over everything, and serve.
What this plate gives you
Fifty-nine grams of protein is more than the 56 g a day the RDA gives a 70 kg adult and the most of any vegan dish in the library: about 43 g from 250 g of firm tofu and 13 g from the lentils, which also give most of the 21 g of fibre, three quarters of a 2,000-calorie day’s 28 g. At 644 calories it is a third of that day, the tofu and oil being the 32 g of fat. A tofu steak is a slab two centimetres thick, pressed dry, fried without moving it for four minutes a side.
Swaps
- Chickpeas for the lentils: about the same numbers.
- Spinach for the kale: a minute in the pan instead of three.
- Soy and a pinch of smoked paprika on the steaks: no change to the numbers.
Keeping it
Cool it, refrigerate within two hours and eat within three to four days (the USDA FSIS leftovers rule). The steaks are good cold, sliced into a salad.
