These quinoa bowls are topped with super flavorful sesame tofu, avocado, soft boiled eggs, and arugula! They’re sprinkled with roasted, salted chopped pistachios, and make a great Meatless Monday meal with tons of flavor and texture!
These colorful bowls are everything I want in a flavor combination. I absolutely LOVE sesame, and when it’s paired with creamy avocado, it’s even more wonderful. Also, bowl meals give me life. It’s how I eat 99% of my meals. Anyone else agree that food tastes better in bowls?
So this tofu! It’s super crispy and filled with toasted sesame flavor. I also added a little chili garlic sauce, soy sauce, and a touch of maple for sweetness, which also helps with the caramelization! Crispy tofu > soggy tofu.
I know that a lot of people think tofu is boring, but this tofu is anything but boring. They key is to squeeze out ALL of the moisture with paper towels or a kitchen towel, and roast it at a high temperature for 40 minutes or so. And that’s it. It’s the best.
There are so many different flavors and textures in these bowls, and they couldn’t be simpler. There isn’t a dressing or sauce, because the tofu itself brings so much flavor, and the creamy avocado almost acts as a sauce when you mix everything together.
And the best part: the jammy, soft boiled eggs!
These beauties help make the sauce too. The jammy yolks mix with the quinoa, and they coat the arugula and create this amazing flavor. So there’s really no need for a dressing or sauce! Trust me.
These were almost a 7 minute egg, but feel free to make 5 minute eggs if you like your yolks even runnier!
I personally like them jammy and almost spreadable. š
The other unexpectedly delicious part of these bowls of goodness: roasted, salted, chopped pistachios! I never really pair pistachios with Asian flavors, but oh my goodness it’s amazing.
Pistachios might be my favorite nut, but still. You need to try this combo!
It’s to die for. And these are perfect for Meatless Monday! I somehow manage to share meatless recipes on Monday a lot of the time, which is totally unplanned and kind of awesome. I think it’s maybe because I naturally gravitate toward lighter meals in the beginning of the week, and a lot of plant based stuff is on the lighter side. Either way, I kind of love it!
Quinoa Bowls with Sesame Tofu, Avocado, and Pistachios
These quinoa bowls are topped with super flavorful sesame tofu, avocado, soft boiled eggs, and arugula! They're sprinkled with roasted, salted chopped pistachios, and make a great Meatless Monday meal with tons of flavor and texture!
Ingredients
For the sesame tofu
- 1 (14 ounce) package extra firm tofu
- 2 tablespoons sesame oil
- 1 tablespoon pure maple syrup
- 1 tablespoon apple cider vinegar
- 1 tablespoon chili garlic sauce
- 1 tablespoon soy sauce
- 1 tablespoon sesame seeds
For the bowls
- 1 3/4 cup water
- 1 cup quinoa, rinsed
- 4-5 cups arugula
- 1 avocado, sliced
- 3/4 cup halved cherry tomatoes
- 4 large eggs
- 1/4 cup chopped pistachios
- sesame seeds for serving
Instructions
Preheat oven to 425ā. Line a rimmed baking sheet with parchment paper. Place the block of tofu between several layers of paper towels and squeeze all of the water you can out of it. (The drier you get it, the crispier the tofu will be!) Dice it into 1/2-1'' cubes.
In a medium bowl, whisk together the sesame oil, maple syrup, apple cider vinegar, chili garlic sauce, soy sauce, and sesame seeds. Add the tofu and toss gently to coat. Place tofu on baking sheet in a single layer and bake for 40 minutes, or until golden and crispy, tossing a couple times during baking.
While tofu is baking, make the quinoa. Bring water to a boil and add the quinoa. Cover and reduce heat to medium-low. Cook for 15-18 minutes or until all liquid has been absorbed. (No peeking!)
Make the soft boiled eggs. Fill a pot with at least 3 inches of water to a boil. Once boiling, lower heat to a rapid simmer. Gently lower the eggs into the water and cook for 6-7 minutes for jammy yolks, or 5 minutes for a runnier yolk. Just be careful not to let the water come to a full, rolling boil, or else the eggs could crack. Once finished, place eggs in an ice bath to stop cooking. Once cooled, gently crack the shells by rolling/pressing on a counter top or flat surface, then peel and slice in half.
To assemble, portion quinoa into bowls, top with a handful of arugula, the tofu, sliced avocado, cherry tomatoes, soft boiled eggs, chopped pistachios, and extra sesame seeds. Serve!
Recipe Notes
*To make these vegan, omit the soft boiled eggs.
These bowls are gorgeous! What an awesome, healthy meal. ā¤ļø
Thank you so much Veronica!
mmmm those eggs are boiled to perfection! looks beautiful, I’ve been trying to add way more veggie bowls into my life and try to eat a little healthier! love it!
Thank you so much Georgie! These bowls are perfect for that!
So delicious!! I’ll be adding this to my bookmarked recipes :).
Thank you so much Tessa!! So happy to hear that! š
Love the recipe, definitely added to the weekly list!
Thank you so much James!! So happy you loved it!
We make this recipe pretty regularly, it’s my husband’s favorite! We like to mix it up sometimes use soy curls in place of tofu, spinach in place of arugula, or peanuts in place of pistachios. We also add green onions on top. Thanks for the inspiration! š
That’s so awesome to hear Emily! Thank you SO much!! Thank you for making them and for your sweet comment! š
My family loved this recipe very much, specially the tofu.
The only problem was with the soft boil egg, it was under done and had to throw them away because the white part war still runny and the cooked part got stuck to the shell.
Absolutely delicious! I added small pieces of fresh tuna dipped in the same sauce and fried briefly on the pan. Worked well I thought. And spinach and coliflor instead of arugula.
Awesome, sounds delicious! So happy you enjoyed!