With cucumbers, tomatoes, browned tofu and a punchy dressing, this recipe’s combination of hot, cold, juicy and snappy makes for a refreshing lunch or light dinner Inspired by Chinese smashed cucumber salads, many of which include dried chiles or chile oil, this recipe’s piquant and spicy dressing uses chile crisp as well as lemon juice, raw garlic and soy sauce The only cooking that’s required is searing the tofu, which helps it drink up more of the dressing

Ranging from silken and creamy to firm and chewy, tofu comes in many forms and is prized around the world for its versatility In this recipe, which is adapted from the “Superiority Burger Cookbook” (W.W Norton & Company, 2018) by chef Brooks Headley, extra-firm tofu is pressed, marinated, breaded and fried, to make the “tofu-fried tofu” sandwich at Superiority Burger, his popular vegetarian restaurant in New York City