This bok choy with tofu salad is a stir-fry-inspired recipe that's quick to assemble with minimal cooking. It's a great vegan dish full of flavor for a warm summer evening.

When the weather heats up in summer, I like to find ways to turn salads into meals. That way, I can spend less time in a hot kitchen and more time outside, enjoying our all-too-brief Vermont summers.

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🥬 Key Ingredients
🔪 Instructions
🍛 Variations
🥡 Storage
🍹 Pairing
📖 Recipe
🥗 Related recipes
💬 Comments

But to keep salads interesting, you've got to have variation and creativity. Salads such as my Broiled Shrimp and Citrus Salad, Coronation Chicken Salad, Arugula and Spinach Salad with Grilled Chicken, Sweet Potato and Beet Salad, and this Pesto Pasta Salad with Sundried Tomatoes are good examples. They're all a bit different.

So, when I saw the first bok choy of the season at my local food co-op, I knew it would work well as a base for an easy salad reminiscent of an Asian-inspired stir-fry.

Bok choy is a type of Chinese cabbage. It's also known as pok choi or pak choi. But no matter what you call it, you won't find it in the shape of a typical round cabbage head. Instead, it has a white or cream-colored stalk with a cluster of stems and leaves emerging from the base.

I often enjoy making a bok choy stir fry because the leaves cook up in just a few minutes. But I've found that when you chop it up, it also works well as a base for a salad. The leaves are tender, while the stems have a bit of crunch, similar to romaine lettuce but with more character.

ingredients for making bok choy with tofu salad

🥬 Key Ingredients

extra firm tofu
olive oil
Bok choy: Unlike some other greens, bok choy tends to be a little sweet, with baby bok choy being even sweeter. That means it's enjoyable to eat raw in a salad without the worry of the unpleasant bitterness of other greens.
radishes
broccoli
dried cranberries
sesame seeds

ingredients for the bok choy salad dressing

For the dressing:

toasted sesame oil
maple syrup
fresh ginger
soy sauce (use tamari if you're gluten-free)

See the recipe card below for the complete list of ingredients and quantities.

🔪 Instructions

cubed tofu coated in cornstarch and ginger

Drain the water from the tofu. Cut the block into ½-inch-thick slices. If you have the time, place the slices between a couple of layers of paper towels and let them drain for 30 minutes to remove excess water. Whether you've pressed it or not, cut the tofu into cubes.

Stir together the cornstarch, ground ginger, and salt in a large bowl. Add the tofu and toss to coat in the mixture. Heat a non-stick pan over medium heat with a couple of teaspoons of olive oil. Cook the tofu for about 2-3 minutes or until browned, then toss it around and repeat to cook the other sides.

dressing for the bok choy with tofu salad

Wash the produce. Then thinly slice the radishes, cut the broccoli into small pieces, and roughly chop the bok choy.

Now make the dressing. Pour the sesame oil, maple syrup, lemon juice, ginger, soy sauce, black pepper, and olive oil into a jar. Put on the lid and shake well to combine.

Finally, toast the sesame seeds in the empty tofu pan over low heat for 4-5 minutes, shaking the pan often to prevent burning. Then you're ready to assemble the salad. Start with a base of bok choy, then layer on the broccoli, radishes, dried cranberries, tofu, sesame seeds, and dressing.

Tofu Tip: I used to cook my tofu in a cast-iron skillet. But no matter how much oil I used, it always seemed to stick. Then one day, I tried using my non-stick skillet, which I only use for a handful of purposes. Not only did the tofu not stick, but it also came out perfectly golden brown and crispy. I've never looked back, and cooking tofu has never been easier. Regardless of what a recipe says, this is how I typically cook it for most tofu recipes.

I know, non-stick pans have a bad rap, and there's good reason. However, there are better and safer non-stick options available these days. The Food Network has some good recommendations.

🍛 Variations

Rice - Toss in a cup or so of cooked rice to add more substance to the salad
Stir Fried - Not loving this dish as a salad? Turn it into a bok choy tofu stir fry. Stir-fry the bok choy stems, radishes, and broccoli over high heat with a splash of olive oil until just tender. Make the dressing, omitting the olive oil, and then pour it into the pan with the vegetables, along with the bok choy leaves. Cook for another minute or two. Serve over rice, top with the fried tofu, sesame seeds, and cranberries, and you've turned this into a stir-fry recipe.
Bok Choy: If bok choy doesn't interest you or you want to change things up, try other greens such as spinach. Napa cabbage would also be a good fit, as seen in my Roasted Napa Cabbage recipe. Kale would also work, but you will want to give it a gentle massage to soften the leaves, as in my Kale Salad with Lentils.
Tofu: If you're not a vegetarian or vegan, or simply don't care for tofu, I think this salad would be great with sliced grilled chicken breast or thighs.

🥡 Storage

When it comes to salad leftovers, I like to store the ingredients separately, then assemble the salad and toss it with the dressing right before eating. However, you can pack this up in advance for a meal on the go without a problem. Any extra dressing can be stored in the fridge for several days.