Kimchi Salad. Crispy marinated spicy tofu, crunchy napa cabbage, sweet carrots, fresh cucumbers with peanuts, all tossed in a spicy dressing. A salad you will love and make often. HEALTHY and Tasty!
It has happened so quickly, seemingly days apart. Events, life changing ones. TEN YEARS!! Of blogging and Life. And what a delicious journey it has been!
The growth
We have a new member in our family, our love, Waffles.
My then seventh grader who jump started the blog, is in third year of college.
You’ve read why I call my little boy, ‘baby bear”. From running around a five year old skinny little boy to seeing him get his licence, my readers have seen it all.
Hubby has published a book, writing another one…but, the biggest change in him: he has been living and promoting a sustainable lifestyle.
If gray hair is also known as wisdom highlights, I am wiser for sure. 😉 A cookbook and a blog that turned into a business, not too shabby eh?!
Gained some meaningful relationships.
Went through very dark moments with events that made me broody about mortality and humans and life.
Part of me really feels that the love of food, the love of family and the support from readers has kept me going through these 10 years.
The Journey
I’m proud to have started this page at a time when there were only a handful of Indian food bloggers. We’ve together created some OG recipes, some classics and lots with a twist. I might sound ancient, but I am glad to be from that era:-).
Now the web is an explosion of food content. Competition is fierce in a crowded space; everything is fancier and glossier. Now, people are hired to write, shoot, cook or edit full-time by a bigger outlet, many claim to be professional food photographers or writers. The field may be more crowded now than it has ever been, but as long as people are reading about food and hungry to cook dinner, get inspired and not fall into unnecessary competition, everyone can co exist.
I am every ounce proud of those first posts than my perfectly styled images. I smile to see how far I’ve come. I love food photography and styling, but when I don’t have the time to spend a day shooting those perfect pics, I will still share a quick pic, because, sharing recipes will always be my priority.
Strategizing was never my asset, and still is not. I’ve never been about calculative gains…and that doesn’t make me look smart, but, I’m happy. I still recipe test crazy amount of times before I shoot. I’ve taken breaks when I am not inspired, quality over quantity has remained my goal throughout.
Thanks to my mom and amma, aunts and uncles who’ve instilled in me: the love of food and the greater love, that of sharing.
Let me be honest. I can do all of this, but if I don’t have the 80K plus visitors on my site, my blog wouldn’t be here celebrating it’s 10th anniversary. So, THANKS to so many of you who’ve been supporters and love to read what I write and enjoy cooking what I share.
The Lessons
For what it’s worth, this is what I’d like to think I’ve learnt in these ten years and would like to share.
Blogging and life have a lot in common. Both require persistent, consistent effort and work to be smooth running. We have to stick to what we believe in, blog about what we love and live life the way we want to. Being creative, being present and making the most of it and having fun with it. You’ll have set backs, but be courageous and tough to move on.
We don’t grow when things are easy. We grow when we face challenges. You fall off the horse, and you get back on.
Find your Why. Stick to it. Reach goals. Live each day to the fullest.
Most of all, never sell yourself short. Value yourself, think of blogging like your life…be honest. Be humble.
I could never have embraced this many people with two arms if not for my blog. It has shown me a whole new world.
Sugar, spice and everything in between. Food is Life, Food is LOVE.
Recipes like this, Spicy Tofu Kimchi Salad is the reason I started blogging. I wanted to share recipes, recipes with a twist.
I have been eating this punchy cucumber salad a lot. KIMCHI Tofu Salad.
How to make the Kimchi Salad
This is a twist on the fermented kimchi. I love all the aspects of kimchi, and if you love it, you’ll enjoy this tofu kimchi salad.
Crispy veggies, marinated tofu that’s grilled to get it crispy and the fried peanuts. When you are ready to serve, mix it with the salad dressing. What you need for the Spicy Tofu Kimchi Salad:
Napa Cabbage
Carrots
Cucumbers
Peanuts
Spicy Crispy Tofu or paneer or even shredded chicken
Scallions
Spicy Kimchi salad dressing
- 1tbsp crispy chili in oil
- 1 tbsp Korean chili flakes, gochugaru
- 3 LARGE garlic
- 2 tbsp soy sauce
- 1tbsp rice wine vinegar
- 1 tbsp mirin
- 1 tbsp brown sugar
- 3 tbsp veg oil
- 2-3 tbsp warm water
- ½ head Napa Cabbage, shredded finely or green cabbage or purple
- 2 Carrots, noodled or thin strips
- 1 Mango, sliced
- 2 miniCucumber, cut to long strips
- 3 Green Onions or scallions, cut to long pieces
- ½ cup Roasted peanuts or deep fried peanuts
- ½ cup extra firm tofu, drained and cut to cubes
- In a small blender, add all the ingredients for the Dressing, check for salt and set aside.
- Add 3 tbsp of the dressing to a bowl, add the tofu and marinate it overnight or at least 2 hours. Air fry the tofu in one layer at 400 for 15 minutes or bake it at 400 degree in an oven on a baking tray in one layer for about 20 minutes. Set aside.
- When ready to serve, add the napa cabbage, carrots, mango slices, cucumber, scallions and the tofu. Add the dressing, toss well and top it with peanuts.
I have to give a BIG shoutout to some of the OG blogger friends:
Tanvi from Sinfully Spicy
Monica from Playing with flour
Marcie from Flavor the moments
Deeba from Passionate about Baking
and many more….
Thanks for taking the time to read, pin and cook from the blog. As cliched as it sounds, it means the world to me.
Cheers to another 10 yrs of deliciousness and living life the way we want to.
XO
Congratulations on 10 years Asha!!! Time does fly doesn’t it and it’s amazing how the blog has been with all the changes in our lives, seen us grow, evolve, learn, make mistakes and still embrace all of it! ☺️ Like you, I enjoy styled photos but really cherish food that creates a spark even when it’s neither photogenic nor made to look that way!
Looking forward to many more years of awesome Yumminess 🤟🏻
Thanks so much dear! Yes, time flies and we’ve grown. Cheers to another 10 and more. XO
Congratulations dear Asha! You have been brilliant in all these years. Wishing you many many more. Love and hugs!
Aww thank you so so much! means a lot.
Congratulations Asha! So proud of you to have come this far, and you have stuck to what you want to do! I have been dilemma past 2 years learning photography and I lost what was my passion! Reading your post made me realise what I love the most! Thank you for a beautiful post! And off course we are a big fan of kimchi in our house! You have been a great inspiration always !
Thanks so much Jayasri, means a lot! Sending you loads of love and hugs.