Colorful noodle bowls made with peanut glazed tofu, ginger lime dressing, and crisp veggies. Inspired by Vietnamese Salad Rolls, but without the rice wraps! This vegan and gluten-free dish comes together in 30 minutes. Leftovers make for a healthy lunch the next day.
Bake tofu: Add tofu to a parchment-lined baking sheet. Drizzle 1 teaspoon of the tamari over tofu. Using your hands, toss to coat. Sprinkle cornstarch over tofu, toss to coat. Bake for 15 minutes.
Make peanut sauce: In a medium bowl, stir together peanut butter, remaining 1 tablespoon of tamari, lime juice, sugar, Sriracha, and garlic powder until smooth.
Sauce and bake: Brush half of the peanut sauce (about 2 tablespoons) all over the tofu. Return tofu to oven, bake until the edges turn slightly golden brown, 5 to 7 minutes.
Coat tofu: Add baked tofu to the bowl of remaining peanut sauce. Toss until well coated.
Ginger Lime Dressing
Make dressing: In a small jar combine lime juice, rice vinegar, grapeseed oil, tamari, sugar, sesame oil, and ginger. Shake vigorously to mix.
Noodle Salad
Soak noodles: Add noodles to a large heatproof bowl. Pour hot water (from a kettle) into the bowl, until the noodles are submerged. Cover the bowl with a plate or baking sheet and let soak until tender, 3 to 5 minutes. Drain noodles in a colander, rinsing with cold water until noodles are no longer hot. Drain thoroughly.
Prep carrots: Peel carrots. Then, run the vegetable peeler down the length of the carrot, to create long carrot strands. (Alternatively, cut into matchsticks.)
Assemble: Return noodles to the large bowl. Pour half of the ginger lime dressing (about ⅓ cup) over noodles. Toss to coat. Divide noodles into bowls. Top with carrots, cabbage, cucumber, lettuce, cilantro, mint, and scallions. Drizzle with the remaining dressing. Add peanut glazed tofu and sprinkle with peanuts (if using).
Notes
Vermicelli noodles: For this recipe, we prefer using vermicelli noodles made from rice. Mung bean varieties are also available (often labelled as "glass noodles" or "cellophane noodles"). While you can substitute mung bean noodles in a pinch, they'll be a bit less firm than the rice noodles.