While tofu is normally associated with East Asian cuisine, this rich, spicy tagine recipe takes you to the heart of North Africa.
If you're looking for a way to liven up your tofu, our expert chefs have found it. Roasting it in the oven gives tofu a deep, nutty flavour that goes brilliantly with this fiery tomato sauce. And as we know, a spicy meal can do your body the power of good.
Ingredients (serves 2)
- 400g tofu
- 150g chickpeas
- 300g tinned tomato
- 1 red onion
- ½ a cauliflower
- 20g mint
- 15g coriander
- 1 tsp chilli powder
- ½ tsp cumin
- 1 tbsp flaked almonds (for garnish)
- 1 tbsp pomegranate seeds (for garnish)
How to make
- Preheat the oven to 180C.
- Grate the tofu and place in a bowl with the chopped mint and coriander. Save a pinch of herbs for your garnish.
- Dice half the onion and sauta with half the chilli powder and cumin over a medium heat for two minutes. Add this to the tofu.
- Blend half the chickpeas in a food processor and mix with the tofu.
- Roll the mixture into balls and place on a baking tray. Roast in the oven for 15 minutes.
- While these are cooking, sauta the rest of the diced onion and spices, add the tinned tomato and simmer for 15 minutes before blending in a food processor. Season to taste.
- Place the raw cauliflower in a food processor and blend so that it starts to crumble. This is an excellent, low carb rice substitute.
- Mix with the remaining herbs and place on a plate.
- Put the rest of the chickpeas into the sauce and warm through.
- Arrange the tofu on top of the cauliflower, pour over the sauce and garnish with flaked almonds and pomegranate seeds.
What is tofu?
Tofu is made by curdling soy milk, cooling it and pressing it together to remove the liquid. Cooking it in the oven, as this recipe calls for, makes it crunchy on the outside, but if cooked differently it can also have a soft, creamy texture.
Why is it good for you?
We know that tofu is made from soy milk, and soy milk itself comes from soybeans. Soy is a plant-based complete protein, which means it provides all your essential amino acids.
These amino acids are the building blocks of protein, which is important for many of the body's most important processes, including muscle building and recovery, wound healing, cell structure and fat loss.
The 'essential' amino acids are those that your body can't produce on its own, meaning you have to get them from your diet. For this reason, a complete protein such as tofu is seen as very valuable to vegans, as it's one of the few ways to get all the essential amino acids in one go if you don't eat meat.
Try more of our vegan recipes
If you like the sound of our tofu and vegetable tagine, you might be interested in some of our other vegan recipes. There's lots to choose from, including healthy sweet and savoury dishes.
Banana and peanut bowl
Tofu and papaya burger
Avocado fudge
Pina colada chia pudding
