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pesto barley tofu & veggie bowl

6 · Apr 13, 2020 · 2 Comments

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this easy pesto barley tofu & veggie bowl comes together in a matter of minutes with just a handful of ingredients. customize it to your liking for a quick weekday meal!

pesto barley tofu & veggie bowl // cait's plate

This was one of those easy meals that I whipped up by just pulling things out of the fridge that I needed to use up.

I had some leftover pesto from dinner the other night, leftover cooked barley, some extra firm tofu and a bunch of chopped veggies.

pesto barley tofu & veggie bowl // cait's plate

I know you guys love a quick and easy meal as much as I do, and this one came out so good that I couldn’t resist sharing it with you!

Even better is the fact that it all comes together in one pan and I don’t know about you guys, but with the amount of dishes I’ve been doing, anything that’s one pan is A-OK with me.

pesto barley tofu & veggie bowl // cait's plate

Don’t be fooled by the few ingredients – they actually pack a ton of flavor. And the best part is that you can totally customize this with whatever you have on hand.

Basically all you need is 1 cup of a grain (rice, farro, freekah, quinoa…anything goes!), 1-2 cups of chopped veggies (fresh or frozen!), a protein source (hard boiled egg, chicken, beans, etc.) and some cheese and you’ve got yourself a satisfying & delicious meal.

pesto barley tofu & veggie bowl // cait's plate
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pesto barley tofu & veggie bowl // cait's plate

pesto barley tofu & veggie bowl

★★★★★ 5 from 1 reviews
  • Author: Cait
  • Prep Time: 5 minutes
  • Cook Time: 15 minutes
  • Total Time: 20 minutes
  • Yield: 2–3 servings 1x
  • Category: grain bowl
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Description

this easy pesto barley tofu & veggie bowl comes together in a matter of minutes with just a handful of ingredients. customize it to your liking for a quick weekday meal!


Ingredients

Scale
  • 1 cup cooked barley (or any grain)
  • 1 16 oz. container extra firm tofu, drained, pressed and cubed
  • 1–2 cups chopped veggies (any mix will work, fresh or frozen)
  • 1/4 cup pesto
  • Olive oil
  • Optional for topping: cheese (I love feta but parmesan would also work), fresh chopped basil

Instructions

  1. Drizzle a large non-stick skillet with olive oil and add cubed tofu.  Cook for ~2 minutes per side over medium high heat (or until just browned).  They will continue cooking once you add the veggies.
  2. Lower heat to medium low and add veggies (add additional olive oil as needed if the pan is dry).  Saute until veggies are tender to your liking (~5-7 minutes).
  3. Once veggies are cooked to your liking, add the barley and the pesto, tossing to coat all ingredients in the pesto and combine.
  4. Turn heat off and add some of the cheese of choice before removing from the stove to allow it to melt.
  5. Remove from heat and plate, top with remaining cheese & chopped basil as desired.

Keywords: grain bowl, dinner, lunch, pesto, meatless, vegetarian

Did you make this recipe?

Tag @caitsplate on Instagram and hashtag it #caitsplate

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please note: items in these posts may contain affiliate links which simply means I earn a small amount of money if you click on them (at no additional cost to you).  this money is always re-invested in cait’s plate so I can continue to create free content to you!

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Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. Kiersten Lawrence says

    Apr. 19th, 2020 at 7:37 pm

    Family hit! Thank you!

    ★★★★★

    Reply
    • Cait says

      Apr. 20th, 2020 at 8:25 am

      yay! so glad to hear that – thanks for letting me know! 🙂

      Reply

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