Here we have the perfect summer salad! This caprese summer salad is essentially a classic caprese salad with a healthy and vegan twist while leaving the authentic Italian flavors in tact. This is seriously going to be your new favorite salad this summer!
Miyokos Mozzarella
I love Miyokos because their products don’t contain any funky ingredients – by funky, I mean ingredients I can’t pronounce. When I first went vegan way back when, I had a lot of trouble giving up cheese. Back then, there were no alternatives I liked so it was extremely difficult. Now there are SO many alternatives – even better, alternatives that are actually good for you?!? Miyokos not only has this delicious mozzarella (I used a mini ice cream scooper to create little balls), their plant-based products include:
- Butter
- Cream Cheese
- Cheese Wheels (truffle, herb, smoked farmhouse, sundried tomato, etc.)
If you are thinking about going vegan, try any Miyokos product and tell me with a straight face you can’t go vegan cause you’ll miss dairy – in my opinion, plant-based dairy is WAY better tasting than animal-based dairy. Another amazing fact about Miyokos creamery – it was started by Miyoko Schinner, a female chef who is dismantling the dairy industry and pretty much started the artisan vegan cheese industry.
Balsamic Marinated Tofu
The star of this salad is the high-protein tofu. I love the one from Trader Joe’s because it has a high protein content (I am working towards getting bigger muscles so I am looking for extra protein, if you are not you don’t need to worry too much about protein!) and is super firm meaning I don’t need to press it before hand. Any soft or even firm tofus have to be pressed – to avoid this, buy super firm tofu. All I did to achieve this crispy tofu was:
- Add 2 tbsp of balsamic vinegar and 2 tbsp of olive oil in a medium sized container. Chop your tofu into bite sized pieces and add them to your container making sure they are all coated. Let marinate for at least 15 min.
- For one salad I used 1/2 a block of high protein tofu which is about 35g protein
- Add your marinated tofu into your air fryer at 400 degrees for 15 minutes and serve. You can bake them in a normal oven if you don’t have an air fryer, the texture is a bit different but still crispy and delicious.
If you don’t eat soy, you can swap the tofu out for seitan but keep in mind it’s not gluten-free if you have a wheat intolerance. You can forgo the protein completely if you want too, it’s just as good without it!
Caprese Summer Salad
Ingredients
Balsamic Tofu
- 1/2 block super firm tofu I used the high protein tofu from Trader Joe's
- 1 tbsp balsamic vinegar
- 1 tbsp olive oil
Salad
- 1 cup packed romaine
- 8 cherry tomatoes
- 1 tbsp balsamic glaze
- 1/2 tbsp olive oil
- 1/2 juice of a lemon
- 2 tbsp miyokos vegan mozzarella cheese
- 1/2 avocado
- 1 tsp sea salt
- 1/4 cup basil
Instructions
Balsamic Tofu
- chop your tofu into bite sized pieces. add to a medium sized container with the balsamic vinegar and olive oil. I doubled the ingredients and used a whole block of tofu to use the following day
- once your tofu bites have marinated for at least 15 minutes, heat your air fryer (or oven) to 400 degrees. once your air fryer is hot (heats up in about 2 min) add your tofu and fry for 15 minutes. let cool while you finish prepping the rest of the salad
Salad
- wash 1 cup of romaine and add to your bowl once dry. I used a salad spinner to get all the water out, if you don't have one just pat dry
- wash 8 or so cherry tomatoes and chop in half
- cut an avocado in half and dice. save the other half in an airtight container in the fridge
- scoop 2-3 tbsp of miyokos mozzarella cheese using a small ice cream scooper. you can also use a fork and mix tiny crumbles throughout the salad
- arrange the romaine in a bowl and top with the basil, cherry tomatoes, avocado, mozzarella balls, and tofu. drizzle balsamic glaze and olive oil on top. sprinkle with sea salt and serve!
