Spinach and Tofu Salad with Japanese Sesame Miso Dressing

March 18, 2008 · 34 comments

in 30-Minute Meals Recipes, Eating Light, Japanese Recipes

Spinach and Tofu Salad
Spinach and Tofu Salad pictures (1 of 5)
Click the image to see next picture

My cheekbones have gone missing.

I have been looking for them in the mirror–during day time under natural sun light; indoor under soft tungsten light; in the office with bright fluorescent light–but they are nowhere to be found. They have indeed gone missing.

What I see in the mirror–and most evidently from my travel pictures–are fats, or fat cells, as my gym instructor on Norwegian Cruise Line would refer to. These fat cells have overtaken my face and swallowed up my cheekbones. They have claimed their green card and permanent residency on my ever bulging and protruding stomach and waistline. That’s not all; they have also crawled into the contour of my face, staked their claims on my thighs, my arms, my butt, even my toes! They are pervasively and invasively everywhere…

Spinach and Tofu Salad with Japanese Sesame Miso Dressing

Those are the sad consequences of what would have been a perfect cruise vacation. When I mentioned I packed on pounds in my previous post about binge eating during my trip, I wasn’t half joking. I have indeed put on weight. I have become “bulat” in Malaysian language, meaning r-O-O-O-O-O-u-n-d.

As a remedy, I have to start starving myself eating healthy to shed those unwanted cells; I resort to vegetables, fat cells’ worst enemy.

Eating healthy doesn’t mean that one has to swallow tasteless and unappetizing food. I started off my healthy eating diet today with a bowl of this pleasing, fresh, and delicious spinach and tofu salad with sesame miso dressing–a wonderful salad served at my favorite Japanese joint.

I felt great after eating this spinach and tofu salad. Listen fat cells, I am fighting back, and now get off my cheekbones please!!!

Looking for more Japanese recipes? Check out the following on Rasa Malaysia

1. Miso Soup with Clams (Asari Miso Soup)
2. Bacon-wrapped Cherry Tomatoes
3. Panko-crusted Soft Shell Crab with Ginger Ponzu Sauce

Recipe: Spinach and Tofu Salad with Sesame Miso Dressing

Ingredients:

1 pack organic baby spinach (I got mine at Costco)
1 pinch sesame seeds (for garnishing)
1/2 block tofu (cut into small cubes)

Low Fat Japanese Sesame Miso Dressing:

1 tablespoon white miso
1 tablespoon ponzu sauce
1/2 tablespoon sugar
1 tablespoon sesame seeds (ground with mortar and pestle)
1/4 cup water

Method:

Mix the sesame miso dressing ingredients until well blended. (You can heat up the dressing in a small sauce pan and chill in the fridge for 30 minutes before use.)

Wash the baby spinach and drain excess water. In a salad bowl, toss the baby spinach with tofu and sesame miso dressing. Dish out and serve cold.

  • StumbleUpon
  • Google
  • TwitThis
  • Facebook
  • del.icio.us

Related Posts:

  1. Miso Ramen Recipe
  2. Ramen Noodle Salad Recipe
  3. Chicken Karaage (Sesame Fried Chicken) Recipe
  4. Soba Recipe (Japanese Buckwheat Noodle)
  5. Japanese Rolled Omelet (Tamagoyaki)

Never miss a recipe again on Rasa Malaysia. Subscribe now to get updates!

Subscribe in a reader   Get new recipes via RSS and reader or subscribe via email

Enter your email address:

{ 34 comments… read them below or add one }

Anonymous 03.18.08 at 4:02 PM

i’m going to try this one. Thnx!

Reply

tigerfish 03.18.08 at 6:52 PM

I have been invaded as well :( Can I share the salad with you ?
Can I have more… since me thinks you still can afford a bit of fats here and there :P

Reply

noobcook 03.18.08 at 7:37 PM

I gained 5 kg from spending 9 days at Tokyo on my recent trip. That’s like an average of 1.8kg a day?! heh and that’s not even from eating the good-looking foods like the ones u had during your cruise, sigh. I managed to lose most of it when I came back though… I guess having thinner wallets after vacation helps in a thinner waistline? ha ha

I like the sauce for your veg salad. I didn’t know spinach can be eaten raw, keke

Reply

Anonymous 03.18.08 at 8:11 PM

i am from Malaysia,may i know what is ponzu sauce? is it available in Malaysia? thanks.

Reply

Indonesia-Eats 03.18.08 at 8:57 PM

I love baby spinach, especially with sweet chili sauce :)

Reply

babe_kl 03.18.08 at 8:57 PM

nice healthy salad, am sure tasted great with all those yummies you added in

Reply

"Joe" who is constantly craving 03.18.08 at 9:17 PM

hahah wish u the best of luck in fightin the fats!

Reply

Rasa Malaysia 03.18.08 at 9:24 PM

Anonymous - You should be able to find Ponzu sauce in food stores…maybe specialty food stores. If not, just add lime juice to soy sauce and you get ponzu sauce basically.

Reply

ChichaJo 03.19.08 at 12:28 AM

Yum! A most delicious way to combat those fat cells I’m sure!

Reply

Rosa's Yummy Yums 03.19.08 at 4:51 AM

Courage! I’m sure that you’ll be able to lose the weight you gained during the cruise…

A refined and delicate salad!

Cheers,

Rosa

Reply

Nilmandra 03.19.08 at 8:03 AM

I do a similar one with thte tofu marinated in miso and then pan seared, and with a sesame soy dressing.

The first two paragraphs made me laugh so hard :D Hope you get your cheekbones back soon!

Reply

MyF 03.19.08 at 10:04 AM

battle of fats huh. been there and.. still there basically…
well surely i can look forward to low fat recipes from you this week! :-) hehe..

Reply

Nate 2.0 03.19.08 at 12:44 PM

Bee, we have met you and we can safely say that you are not in any trouble with invading fat cells! Still, I applaud your efforts to eat healthier. We could all use a little more green!

Reply

Christine 03.19.08 at 5:44 PM

A lovely salad, this is. I think I’d like to try it with seared tofu as well.

Reply

Kevin 03.19.08 at 7:38 PM

The salad looks good and sounds simple and tasty.

Reply

At Home with Kim Vallee 03.19.08 at 9:12 PM

I love salad. Yours is pretty simple to make and sounds delicious. I would give it a try.

My tips to dieters: Vegetables are a big part of the solution but do not forget to consume more fruits too.

Finally Bee, your blog is amazing too. Thank you for stopping by mine. I will definitely make a habit to come back to read yours.

Reply

BuddingCook 03.19.08 at 10:57 PM

I should eat this everyday and I didn’t even go on a cruise. ;)

Reply

Imbi & Itchy 03.20.08 at 2:29 AM

I love this post ;-p, something that i definately can relate too ALL the time.

Reply

Maya 03.20.08 at 6:12 AM

Great for the upcoming skin baring season :) I have been a bit more careful about what I eat. NO need extra padding anymore now that winter is over!
Great picture as always, Bee.

Reply

Helen 03.20.08 at 7:22 AM

I know exactly how you feel, I too am fighting the fat cells at the moment. Too much blogging made me fat!!

Reply

Ling 03.21.08 at 2:12 AM

I’ve lost my cheekbones a long time ago.
and I will be going to Chicago soon, no doubt the hips will be gone too. Prolly the butt as well. Sigh

Reply

Dave, 'LunaPierCook' 03.21.08 at 4:02 AM

Bee, chubby cheeks can be amazingly endearing. It’s chubby on the rest of the bod that you have to worry about! I love a good salad as well, and this one looks great … even though there’s tofu … ;-)

Reply

Tummythoz 03.21.08 at 9:45 AM

Are you trying to make me happy? So there is a powerful being! My friend has gained weight when I just can’t lose any! Yahoo! *trying to bounce out a triumphant skip*

Reply

Tummythoz 03.21.08 at 9:46 AM

Btw, nice capture of such a plain dish.

Reply

aria 03.22.08 at 7:29 AM

hi rasa! awww hahaha your cheeckbones will emerge again! i have the same problem since christmas :) this salad looks delicious, i love tofu so much but forget to cook with it often. welcome back — your pictures are beautiful !

Reply

Lori Lynn 03.22.08 at 11:36 AM

This sounds so refreshing!

Reply

Zen Chef 03.22.08 at 4:11 PM

I haven’t been on a cruise but i feel round too! haha
Maybe i’m spending too much time in the kitchen. I think i should follow your example!
:-)

Reply

Manggy 03.23.08 at 6:14 AM

Ouch, haha :)
You’re still quite pretty whatever the state of your cheekbones, Bee :) I should start eating lighter fare as well! America was way too generous on my waistline!

Reply

didally 03.26.08 at 12:33 AM

I need the fat cells off so many parts of my body. Haha…

Nice salad. I like miso seasame dressing.

Reply

PegS 03.26.08 at 10:31 PM

Hey, your recipe came at the right time! spinach n tofu are my favourite!
am on a detox diet, 7days, today is the last. feeling more energetic and maybe my cheekbones are smaller too.haha

thankss for sharing

Reply

Doc 04.08.08 at 4:55 AM

Your pics are always so nice. Anyway I am trying to go on a low carb diet..but the problem is I live in Penang. Arrghhh need low carb hawker food diet !

Reply

Anonymous 05.30.08 at 4:03 AM

Why would you think that the pictures are “best viewed with Internet Explorer”. In fact, they can be viewed with any modern browser — even better ones, e.g. Firefox and Opera.

Why do you think you have five pictures, given that they are virtually indistinguishable.

Reply

Aparna Inguva 06.01.08 at 10:16 AM

Hey,
Found your link through Shannon from foodbuzz. I love how the food pops ut in your pictures. What camera do you use? and how do you ensure the bright lighting?. Hope you get some time to visit my blog as well I would appreciate your feedback
-Aparna
http://threemangoes.blogspot.com/

Reply

Anonymous 09.29.08 at 9:46 AM

I feel very light just by looking at your spinach and tofu salad with sesame miso dressing. lol. This recipe is a keeper.

Reply

Leave a Comment

You can use these HTML tags and attributes: <a href="" title=""> <abbr title=""> <acronym title=""> <b> <blockquote cite=""> <cite> <code> <del datetime=""> <em> <i> <q cite=""> <strike> <strong>

Previous post: Chinese Fried Rice Recipe

Next post: Rasa Sayang Resort and Spa, Penang, Malaysia