This is a favorite that comes from the book, “The Vegan Slow Cooker”. The original recipe suggests that you could stir in cooked black beans at the end of cooking, but we just happened to have some tofu that week we cooked it. We really liked the way marinated tofu adds its flavor to the dish.
1 pound extra-firm tofu
½ cup balsamic vinegar
½ cup low-salt soy sauce
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 small onion chopped
2 cloves garlic minced
1 bell pepper, cored and chopped
3 cups water
1 ½ cups quinoa
1 packet or cube vegetable bouillon
2 tablespoons tomato paste
½ teaspoon salt
½ teaspoon chili powder
Cube the tofu and place in a sealable plastic bag. Add balsamic vinegar and low-salt soy sauce. Place bag in the refrigerator and marinate for two hours or overnight.
Heat the oil in a skillet over medium heat and sauté the onion until translucent, 3 to 5 min. add the garlic and bell pepper and sauté until the pepper is soft, 3 to 5 min. Put sautéed vegetables, quinoa, salt and chili powder in crockpot. In a bowl, mix water, bouillon, and tomato paste, stirring thoroughly to mix the bouillon and tomato paste into the liquid. Pour into crockpot.
Cook on high, 1 ½ to 2 hours, or until quinoa has unfurled. Drain tofu cubes and stir them into the quinoa; Continue cooking for 15 min. or until tofu is hot.
Here is a link to “Crockpot Quinoa Curry”, a variation.
Recipes out of the Blond Box 