Grilled Tofu with a Mediterranean Chopped Salad

Grilled tofu lives or dies on the marinade and the char. This one gets both right: a lemon-garlic-oregano marinade that tastes distinctly Mediterranean, and a hot grill that gives the tofu the browned crust that turns it from bland to craveable.

Reserving 2 tablespoons of the marinade for basting is the secret weapon. The tofu needs moisture during grilling because extra-firm tofu dries out fast over direct heat. Basting every couple of minutes keeps the surface moist and lets more flavor soak in as the block cooks.

The chopped salad underneath is essentially a deconstructed Greek salad minus the feta. Tomato, cucumber, scallion, parsley, kalamata olives, with a white wine vinegar-olive oil dressing. It provides juicy, briny contrast to the hot grilled tofu, so every bite has something going on.

Kitchen Tips

• Press the tofu before marinating to squeeze out as much water as possible. Wrap in a clean towel, weight it with a heavy pan for 20 minutes, then slice. Drier tofu absorbs more marinade.
• Oil the grill rack well. Tofu sticks harder than meat, and scraping the char off the grates instead of the tofu is a major loss of flavor.
• Grill on medium-high heat, not nuclear. Blasting tofu burns the surface before the inside warms through.

Variations

• Add crumbled feta to the chopped salad for a richer, more authentic Greek version.
• Swap kalamatas for Castelvetrano olives for a milder, buttery olive note.
• Serve over warm pita bread or couscous for a full-meal presentation.