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Warm Romaine Salad topped with BBQ Baked Tofu and creamy, homemade Tahini Ranch Dressing is a healthy-yet-hearty meal.
I love salads, and I miss them during the chilly months. This Warm Romaine Salad hits that light-and-crunchy spot without giving you chills. The sweet, sticky BBQ tofu is perfect with a lettuce crunch and creamy Tahini Ranch. You're going to love this salad, you guys!
More salad goodness: Holiday Kale Salad with Warm Ginger-Cranberry Dressing, Seaweed Salad with Crispy Tofu
The trick to making this recipe on a busy evening is to time out your cooking. Here's what I recommend:
- Get that tofu into the oven, stat.
- Make the Tahini Ranch Dressing.
- Divide the lettuce between your serving bowls and prep your kale and mushrooms to saute.
- Cook the kale and mushrooms when the tofu has about 10 minutes to go.
- Assemble and serve!
The warm tofu and veggies wilt the Romaine just a bit without totally killing that lettucey crunch. I am seriously addicted to this salad, you guys!
Preparing Your Tofu
The recipe below specifies using pressed tofu, and you definitely don't want to skip that vital step. You can press and prep the tofu for this recipe in about the time it takes your oven to preheat, so it doesn't even add much time, if any, to the whole shebang.
I use my EZ Tofu Press to press my tofu, because it gets the job done quickly while maintaining the block's perfect shape. Pressing the tofu does two crucial things for this recipe:
- Makes your tofu more firm. You get an average of ½ cup of water out of a tofu block when you press it. That makes the tofu much more form and toothsome.
- Makes your tofu tastier. Getting that water out turns your tofu into a flavor sponge. Since you bake the tofu for this Warm Romaine Salad in a sea of BBQ sauce, you don't need to marinate to get a flavorful result. The well-pressed tofu will soak in all of those wonderful BBQ flavors as it bakes.
Got your tofu pressed and ready to rock?
Let's make that Warm Romaine Salad!
Check out the video for how to make your Warm Romaine Salad, then get the written recipe below.
📖 Recipe
Warm Romaine Salad with BBQ Tofu & Tahini Ranch
Ingredients
For the Baked BBQ Tofu
- 1 block extra firm tofu - pressed and cut into ½" cubes
- 1 ½ cups vegan BBQ sauce
For the Tahini Ranch
- ¾ cup tahini
- 2 teaspoons dried dill
- 1 teaspoon garlic powder
- 1 teaspoon onion powder
- ¾ cup water - or more, as needed, to reach your desired consistency - How much you need will depend on the tahini you're using.
- ⅓ cup lemon juice
- ¾ teaspoon sea salt
- ¼ teaspoon black pepper
For the Kale and Mushrooms
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 1 clove garlic - minced
- ½ cup chopped sweet onion
- 4 ounces button mushrooms - sliced
- ¼ teaspoon sea salt
- 2 packed cups chopped kale
For the Warm Romaine Salad
- 8 cup chopped Romaine lettuce
- 2 cups shredded carrots
- ½ cup chopped green onion
Instructions
Make the Baked BBQ Tofu
- Preheat the oven to 400F.
- Pour ½ cup of the BBQ sauce into the bottom of an 8x8" glass pan. Arrange the tofu cubes in a single layer, then top with the remaining BBQ sauce. Bake for 40 minutes.
Make the Tahini Ranch
- Combine all of the Tahini Ranch ingredients in your blender, and puree until smooth.
Make the Kale and Mushrooms
- Heat the olive oil in a large pan on medium-high heat. Add the garlic, onion, mushrooms, and salt, and cook, stirring, until the onion turns translucent and the mushrooms soften, about 5 minutes.
- Add the kale to the pan and cook for another few minutes, until it wilts and turns a beautiful bright green. If the pan is getting dry at this point, you can add 1-2 tablespoons of water. Whether you need the water or not will depend on your pan.
Make Your Warm Romaine Salad
- Divide the Romaine and carrots between four bowls. Spoon on the Kale and Mushrooms, then the Baked BBQ Tofu and a little bit of the extra warm BBQ sauce from the pan. Drizzle on the Tahini Ranch, then top each bowl off with 2 tablespoons of chopped green onion. Serve immediately.
Jon
Hey has anyone tried the Tahini Ranch from this recipe?
It turned out a big bowl of white water.
1 1/4 cups of water might've been a bit much.
Looking for some ratio suggestions
Becky Striepe
Oh no! I wonder why this happened. I’d start with less if that’s what’s happening with your tahini. Sometimes it can be thin - I’ll add a water range to the directions.
Jon
Less water you mean? For the second attempt I started with a third cup of water and added splashes until it started mixing. So, I'm not sure the total amount of water I used just now. But the total amount of dressing seems like a little over a cup and a half. The blender somehow warmed it up so it's chilling in the fridge. The color and texture looks good though. Will be giving it a taste in about a half an hour.
Becky Striepe
Keep me posted! Yes less water for sure if it’s as thin as you first described. I’m glad it’s working out now!
Jon
LOL well it's SUPER THICK now! I'm just going to start all over on Wednesday and follow your original recipe again. I must have done something wrong the first time. Well, thanks for the responses! I'll definitely keep you posted.
Becky Striepe
Oh don’t start over!! Try adding water 1-2 tablespoons at a time. It does thicken in the fridge for sure tho. I’m happy to help. I want my recipes to be successful for everyone! Was this a new jar of tahini by any chance?
Jon
Okay will do!
Yes, it was a new jar of the Wholefoods brand organic tahini. I usually keep it upside down and I do make sure it's mixed well.
We go through about a jar every two weeks. We normally use it with chickpea miso paste to make a noodle sauce.
Oh, and the dressing was delicious. Since it was so thick it reminded me of a thick ranch dip which gives me some more ideas ;)
Becky Striepe
I’m glad it worked out in the end! Maybe it was extra separated or something like this. I’ve def has jars that seemed impossible to mix. It would explain the super thin then super thick batches of dressing!
Jen @ Keto Recipes
This salad sounds absolutely refreshing! So excited to try this. Glad you shared this.
Becky Striepe
Enjoy it, Jen!
Sarah De la Cruz
This salad looks awesome, of course, because it uses my fave bbq tofu! Yum!!!
Becky Striepe
Aw yay!
Dianne
I miss salads during the cold winter months, too. This looks like a great healthy meal for January, though!
Becky Striepe
Thank you!
Kristina
I LOVE this one! I always love a warm salad over crisp greens. we haven't had tofu in a while and I just bought one - I think THIS is what we're doing with it! :)
Becky Striepe
Hooray! Enjoy it, Kristina!
Amy Katz from Veggies Save The Day
I love BBQ and Ranch together! This salad is a winner!
Becky Striepe
Thank you, Amy!
Sarah
Yum! That salad has all my favorite things. Thanks for the recipe!
Becky Striepe
Enjoy it, Sarah!
Mary Ellen | VNutrition
Oooh yes! I love warm salads and I know this one is going to be amazing (as are all of your tofu recipes!). :)
Becky Striepe
Thank you so much!