Boiled thistles with tofu sauce

Recipe of boiled thistles with tofu sauce

Ingredients:

Recipe of thistles with sauce
A bunch of tender thistles, in this case the leaves of wild milk thistle have been used.
4 carrots
Olive oil
Salt

For the sauce:

100 g of tofu
half a clove of garlic
A teaspoon of mustard
Olive oil, salt, turmeric (optional)

Preparation of the recipe:

In the case of wild thistles, the tender leaves are collected and their blade is cut, with the help of a knife or scissors, leaving only the petiole of the leaf (“woody” stem).

Steps to prepare wild thistles: The leaves are collected, the remains of leaves and threads are removed, and they are cut.

Wash with plenty of water to remove traces of soil, pollen, etc.
With a knife, remove the threads, from the base, as if they were peeling.
Cut the thistles to the desired size, usually about 3 fingers long, like tender beans. They can be cut after cooking, so that they better preserve their properties.
Prepare a bowl with cold water and lemon juice, and submerge the clean leaves, so they do not turn black.
Bring water on to boil, with a pinch of salt. When it starts to boil, add the thistles and cook for 10 minutes. Then strain, reserve the thistles.

Thistles at the time of boiling them. They should be added when the water is boiling, not before. That way cooking is faster and fewer nutrients are lost.

At the same time, cut the carrot into very thin slices and put it in the wok to cook over medium heat for 5 minutes, stirring so that it cooks evenly.
Combine the vegetables and mix.

Mix the boiled thistle and the wok-cooked carrot.

To make the sauce:

Boil the block of tofu in water for 10 minutes. Do not throw away all the water when the cooking is finished, we will reserve a little to dilute the sauce.
Place the block of tofu in a blender container, with a little of its cooking water (to taste, depending on how much liquid you want), half a clove of garlic, oil and spices to taste. Crush and correct salt. Optional: Nuts can be added to the sauce.