Soba and Fried Tofu Salad

I've been feeling really uninspired to cook lately, and whenever that happens, I buy a new cookbook. So, I picked up Jeanne Lemlin's Simple Vegetarian Pleasures at Magers and Quinn the other day (with credit I'd forgotten I had!)--I'm pretty excited about these truly simple recipes!

She recommends serving this one cold, but since I was hungry and couldn't wait (plus have a thing about temperature), I ate it hot. Probably delicious either way!

1 pound extra-firm tofu
1 T. canola oil
1 T. tamari or shoyu
1 pound soba noodles

Dressing:
3 T. tamari or shoyu
3 T. sesame oil
2 T. brown sugar
1 t. hot chili oil
1 T. rice vinegar or red wine vinegar
2 t. grated ginger

1 T. sesame seeds
2 large scallions, thinly sliced
4 cups spinach leaves, washed, then stacked and julienned

1. Fry up the tofu however you like. (I cubed mine and cooked it in a bit of oil and the 1 T. shoyu until it was fairly crispy.)
2. In the meantime, cook the soba noodles.
3. Make the dressing!
4. In a large bowl, combine tofu, soba noodles, and the dressing. Top each serving with a big handful of spinach, some sesame seeds, and a few scallions.

So. easy.

(The photo is heavy on the sesame seeds!)