Perfect hot summer meal

Although this looks complicated, if you take it slow and in steps it was easy and just a great dog days of summer meal. It is called Citrusy Tofu and Rice Salad. Don’t turn off. Tofu tastes like what you add to it. And the lightness and citrusy taste was wonderful. I got this recipe from the Washington Post Wednesday food section. It serves 4 and they say 360 calories per severing. Jim ate for 2.
Dressing:
1T sesame seeds
2 medium cloves garlic, minced
2 T peanut oil
2 T unseasoned rice vinegar
2 T freshly squeezed orange juice
1t honey
1t tamari soy sauce
½ t freshly grated ginger
½ t toasted sesame oil
Salt
Pepper
I put all of the ingredients on the counter including the OJ, minced garlic and ginger so I would not forget anything. If you only have raw sesame seeds you need to toast them, but in the Oriental markets they have roasted seeds you can buy. So earlier in the day I made the dressing and put in a container in the refrigerator.
When ready for dinner, I did the rice first:
½ C Jasmine rice
½ C dry white wine
½ C water
Salt to taste
Put all in a small pan and bring to a boil for one minute. Cover and turn the heat to the lowest temperature and cook for about 18 to 20 minutes. Stir a couple of times and fluff when all the liquid is absorbed.
Next the salad:
7 oz of mixed salad greens
1 medium carrot peeled and grated
1 small cucumber, peeled, seeded and chopped
2 scallions, white parts only, minced.
I mixed all this in a salad bowl.
Final Steps:
14 oz firm tofu, drained and cut into 3/4 “cubes
I used my flat bottom wok on top of the stove. Spray the wok with cooking spray and put the tofu in on medium heat. Add 2T of the dressing and cook for 12 minutes tossing every 2 minutes to evenly brown the cubes. Toward the end I had to turn the heat down and turned separately any cubes that were white on top.. At the end of the cooking time add the rice to the tofu off the heat and add one more T of the dressing. Toss to combine. Add the rest of the dressing to the greens and toss to combine. I then spread the greens on a platter and topped with the rice/tofu mixture.
This was so good and light for a very hot summer night.