ORANGE JERK INSPIRED TOFU & CUCUMBER TACOS

7-8 tacos, overnight marinade (preferred), 15-minute cooking/ assembly time

INGREDIENTS

Tofu Marinade

• 14 oz firm tofu, pressed and sliced

• 4 tbsp tamari or soy sauce

• Zest and juice of 1 medium navel orange

• 1/2 - 1 tsp ground allspice (adjust to taste and spice level, use less for pittas)

• 1 tsp fresh ginger, grated

• 1-2 cloves of garlic, grated

• Dash of cayenne pepper (omit if pitta)

• 1/2 tsp dried thyme (or 1-2 tsp of fresh thyme)

• 2 tsp coconut sugar or maple syrup

• Salt and pepper to taste

• Ghee (for cooking the tofu)

Cucumber Salad

• 3 small cucumbers, peeled and sliced into small circles

• 2 tbsp rice vinegar

• 1 tsp cane sugar (add more to taste)

• 2 tbsp chopped fresh dill

• Salt and pepper to taste

Other optional taco toppings

• Taco-size tortillas (I use almond flour soft taco tortillas)

• Avocado slices

• Dollop of yogurt

• Romaine lettuce, sprouts, or microgreens

• Fresh chopped cilantro

• Diced green onions

• Spritz of lime

• Any extra marinade sauce

DIRECTIONS

1. Start by making the marinade: combine all ingredients for the marinade (except for the cooking ghee) in a large mixing bowl or container. Taste and adjust seasoning as needed. Add the tofu slices. Cover, put in the fridge, and allow to marinate for 2-4 hours or overnight - the longer, the more flavorful.

2. Next, make the cucumber salad: peel and slice the cucumbers. Add them to a bowl with the other ingredients, cover, and allow to sit for 10-15 minutes - the longer, the more flavor, just like the marinade.

3. Then cook the tofu: Add 1 tbsp ghee to a large saucepan over medium heat. Add the marinated tofu slices. Allow to cook (untouched) for 5-6 minutes or until the edges become brown (you can use a spoon to add more marinade to the tops of the tofu while cooking), then flip, and cook for an additional 3-4 minutes or until edges are brown and crispy! Adding more ghee as needed to prevent burning.

4. Then, assemble the tacos! Warm the tortillas, then assemble with the tofu, cucumber salad, avocado, yogurt, greens, cilantro, lime/ extra marinade or as desired! Enjoy!

#summer #spring #pitta #vata #kapha #under15minutes

Notes

• Pretty low effort meal - the marinade takes 5 minutes to put together, 10-15 minutes to cook, and the cucumber salad is 5 minutes - easy.

• For meat eaters: you can try this with chicken instead of tofu - I haven't tried it, but I bet it would be delicious!

• No, these jerk tacos do not include the scotch bonnet and some of the other classic spicy-spices in traditional jerk recipes BUT we get kinda close with this one. Here, we honor the flavor-craving nature of pitta but also respect the excess heat that they have, especially in the summer. That is why I called it "jerk-inspired" - maybe even "jerk-adjacent" :).

• Regardless, we get a lot of balance with this marinade and combination of ingredients. Good balance of heat & coolness (tofu + spices & marinade), heavy & light (between veggies + avocado & tofu), and moist & dry (between the dressing, yogurt & avocado + cucumber, greens, & spices). So all in all, you should walk away from this meal feeling satisfied and balanced!