When the weather warms up, our bodies naturally crave light, bright and thirst-quenching foods – such as lettuce, kale and other farm-fresh produce. To get ready for those seasonal cravings, our friend, Chef Phoebe Lapine, created the ultimate Crispy Baked Tofu Salad with Creamy Lemon Poppy Dressing featuring our COCOYO Pure. Incorporating a mix of seasonal veggies, crispy tofu and a creamy lemon poppy dressing, this vegan and dairy-free recipe will leave your taste buds and gut feeling nourished and satiated, a culinary accomplishment that is no easy feat. 
Inspired by Phoebe’s love for fast casual salads but without the unhealthy or processed ingredients typically found in these meals, this salad has all our favorite vegan/dairy-free elements plus billions of probiotics from COCOYO to support gut function and regularity.
The dual use of COCOYO in both the gluten-free breaded tofu and creamy lemon poppy-seed dressing provides a few functions. First, COCOYO in its raw form in salad dressing provides a rich source of probiotics – every jar contains 200B probiotics to be exact – from raw young Thai coconuts. Second, while cooking fermented foods can kill off the beneficial bacteria, COCOYO still serves as the perfect dairy-free binder for breading our crispy baked tofu.
Each ingredient is hand selected to satiate your Spring and Summer cravings, but you can easily adjust the toppings depending on seasonally available produce year-round. Read on for instructions on how to make this vegan crispy baked tofu salad – fully tested and loved by the GT’s team – and check out Phoebe’s full blog here.
Crispy Baked Tofu Salad with Creamy Lemon Poppy Dressing (Vegan and low FODMAP)
Makes 4 main course servings
For the tofu:
2 cups gluten-free brown rice cereal, preferably organic, non-GMO
1/2 teaspoon paprika
1/2 teaspoon sea salt
2 tablespoons Dijon mustard
2 tablespoons COCOYO Pure Dairy Free Yogurt
1 pound extra firm tofu, cut into 8 slices
For the salad:
2 heads of romaine, about 6 cups, thinly sliced
2 cups finely shredded kale
4 radishes, thinly sliced
½ cup thinly sliced sugar snap peas
2 small beets, thinly sliced
2 small carrots, thinly sliced
For the dressing:
1/2 cup COCOYO Pure Dairy Free Yogurt
¼ cup lemon juice
¼ cup olive oil
2 tablespoons Dijon mustard
2 tablespoons maple syrup
2 teaspoons poppy seeds
Instructions:
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Preheat the oven to 425 degrees F. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
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In a small food processor, pulse the rice cereal with the salt and paprika until finely ground. Remove to a shallow bowl or plate.
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In another shallow bowl, combine the Dijon and COCOYO Pure. Season with salt.
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Working one by one, carefully coat the tofu in the yogurt mixture. Dredge the marinated tofu in the rice mixture, pressing down until fully coated, and shaking off any excess. Arrange the tofu in an even layer on the baking sheet.
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Bake in the oven until golden and crispy, 15 to 20 minutes. Allow to cool on the tray until safe to touch, then slice each piece in half lengthwise so you have two strips.
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Meanwhile assemble the salad: arrange the romaine, kale, radishes, sugar snap peas beets and carrots on a large serving platter or salad bowl.
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In a small mixing bowl or cup measure, make the dressing: whisk together the COCOYO Pure, lemon juice, olive oil, Dijon, maple syrup, poppy seeds and ½ teaspoon salt until smooth. Taste for seasoning and add salt as necessary.
- Arrange the crispy baked tofu on top of the salad. Serve alongside the creamy lemon poppy dressing.
