This delicious grain bowl recipe includes quinoa topped with sauteed tofu, broccoli, and carrots drizzled with sesame-ginger dressing.
This past spring, my 12-year-old daughter came home from school with a tupperware container of quinoa mixed with some chopped cucumbers, sliced almonds, and slivered kale leaves. She had been taking a salad-making class as an after-school activity for several weeks, and they had moved beyond greens and into grains. A budding vegetarian, she was thrilled with the salad, and I was thrilled she was eating quinoa (and kale!). Heartened by her reaction, I decided to make a kid-friendly, vegetarian grain bowl for dinner using quinoa and featuring foods that always go over well in our house: broccoli, carrots, and tofu.
To punch it up a notch, and make it more flavorful for adults, I added a sesame-ginger salad dressing (easily left off for your pickier eaters) adapted from one of my favorite salad dressing recipes from Food and Wine magazine. In this version, I use red onions instead of shallots, and add sesame oil and freshly ground pepper. It’s a perfect match for this grain bowl, as the flavor of this creamy dressing is still so light.
The instructions for this grain bowl are going to seem like they will take you a long time—and there are several steps to this recipe. However, you can easily save time on a weeknight by using pre-cooked quinoa (either store-bought, or made in a big batch over the weekend) and/or making the dressing in advance. The dressing will keep in a jar in the refrigerator for at least a week. And you’ll love it on all kinds of other salads as well, so you may even want to double the recipe and have it handy all week.
How to cook quinoa
There are lots of different instructions out there as to how to cook quinoa, but this is my favorite method. First rinse quinoa in a fine-mesh strainer. (This will help take the bitterness out of the quinoa’s outer coating.) Then, pour quinoa into a small saucepan with 1 ¾ cups of water and ½ teaspoon of salt. When the water comes to a boil, turn down the heat to medium-low, cover pot, and simmer for 15-20 minutes, or until the liquid has evaporated. Let it sit for 5 few minutes and then uncover it and fluff with a fork.
How to make this grain bowl
As for the rest of the ingredients, start by cutting broccoli florets into bite-sized pieces and place in a large microwave-safe bowl. (I like to use a giant glass batter bowl like this one.) Peel and thinly slice carrots into coins, and add to the bowl with the broccoli. Cover bowl with plastic wrap, and poke a few holes in it. Then microwave on high for 90 seconds. Uncover bowl carefully, stir, then microwave for another 90 seconds. Repeat until broccoli and carrots are done to your liking—it could take up to 5 minutes total.
Next, pat tofu dry with a paper towel, and cut into ½ inch cubes. Heat 1 T. grapeseed oil and ½ t. sesame oil over medium-high heat in a 12-inch nonstick pan. Add tofu and ¼ t. kosher salt. Cook tofu for about 5 minutes undisturbed, until tofu cubes brown on the bottom, then stir and continue to toss every minute or so until cubes are lightly browned on all sides, about 10 minutes total.
If you'd like to bake your tofu in the oven instead, try this Crispy Baked Tofu recipe.
While tofu is cooking, make the dressing. Add ginger, red onion, rice vinegar, mayonnaise, sesame oil, soy sauce, and freshly ground pepper to a blender and blend until smooth. Turn off, scrape down the sides, then turn blender on and drizzle in grapeseed oil.
To assemble your grain bowl, toss the quinoa with ¼ cup of the sesame-ginger dressing. Then add broccoli, carrots, and tofu, and stir. Drizzle over additional dressing as desired, and sprinkle with sesame seeds.
What is a grain bowl?
The term grain bowl is just the name for a bowl with a bed of some kind of grain (rice, barley, quinoa, farro, etc.) topped with a protein, vegetables, some kind of dressing or sauce, and sometimes a garnish. You can use any proteins and veggies that your family loves to eat, and tie it all together with a yummy dressing. And, grain bowls are perfect for leftovers, since you need just a little bit of each component. Should you find yourself without any chicken, beef, pork, or tofu to use as your protein, try a soft-boiled or runny egg. I also love that these are easy meals for picky eaters: keep the sauce on the side, and let them build their own with the components they like.
Other Delicious Grain Bowl Recipes
If you're looking for other great grain bowl recipes, check these out:
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Quinoa Grain Bowl with Sesame-Ginger Dressing
Equipment
Ingredients
- 1 cup quinoa
- 10 ounces broccoli florets
- 2 medium carrots
- 14 ounces firm or extra-firm tofu
- 1 tablespoon grapeseed oil
- ½ teaspoon sesame oil
- ¼ teaspoon kosher salt
- ½ teaspoon toasted sesame seeds
Sesame-Ginger Dressing
- 1 tablespoon minced fresh ginger
- 1 tablespoon minced red onion
- 2 tablespoons rice vinegar
- 2 tablespoons mayonnaise
- ½ tablespoon sesame oil
- 1 tablespoon low-sodium soy sauce
- ¼ teaspoon freshly ground pepper
- ⅓ cup grapeseed oil
Instructions
- To cook quinoa, first rinse in a fine-mesh strainer. (This will help take the bitterness out of the quinoa’s outer coating.)
- Pour quinoa into a small saucepan with 1 ¾ cups of water and ½ teaspoon of salt, and turn the burner to high.
- When the water comes to a boil, turn down the heat to medium-low, cover pot, and simmer for 15-20 minutes, or until the liquid has evaporated. Let it sit for 5 few minutes and then fluff with a fork.
- While quinoa is cooking, cut broccoli florets into bite-sized pieces and place in a large microwave-safe bowl.
- Peel and thinly slice carrots into coins, and add to the bowl with the broccoli.
- Cover bowl with plastic wrap, and poke a few holes in it. Then microwave on high for 90 seconds. Uncover bowl carefully, stir, then microwave for another 90 seconds. Repeat until broccoli and carrots are done to your liking—it could take up to 5 minutes total.
- Next, pat tofu dry with a paper towel, and then cut into ½ inch cubes.
- Heat 1 tablespoon grapeseed oil and ½ teaspoon sesame oil over medium-high heat in a 12-inch nonstick pan.
- Add tofu and ¼ teaspoon salt. Cook tofu for about 5 minutes undisturbed, until tofu cubes brown on the bottom, then stir and continue to toss every minute or so until cubes are lightly browned on all sides, about 10 minutes total.
- While tofu is cooking, make the dressing. Add all dressing ingredients except for the grapeseed oil to a blender and blend until smooth.
- Turn off, scrape down the sides, then turn blender on and drizzle in grapeseed oil.
- To assemble your grain bowl, toss the quinoa with ¼ cup of the sesame-ginger dressing.
- Add broccoli, carrots, and tofu and stir.
- Drizzle over additional dressing as desired, and sprinkle with sesame seeds.
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