Tofu Cooking - Basic Vegetarian Recipes

Vegetarian Cooking 101: Tofu Tips

• The number one tofu tip: the fresher the better. The ideal is made today by your local tofu maker - it tastes wonderful! Failing that, favor organic, get some that isn't anywhere close to it's sell-by date, and use it quickly. Avoid the vacuum pack keep forever varieties.
• If you need to use only part of a block of tofu, drain, rinse, and submerge in fresh water; store in a sealed container in the fridge for no more than a few days.
• Soy has 16 known allergens - go very easy with tofu at first until you see how you and your children tolerate it. Start with once a week, and progress to twice a week.
• This isn't a popular view, but after reading up about it, I've concluded that soy consumption should be approached with caution, and perhaps limited to tofu and other traditional fermented tofu products like miso, tempeh, soy sauce, soy milk and other more exotic items, because they're whole foods, which soy isolates are not. FYI, here's a well balanced and informative article about soy in vegetarian diets by Christa Novelli, M.P.H.
• Tofu is a very concentrated protein, and should be eaten in small quantities, combined with grains and veggies. 4 Tblsp is an adult serving. Abandon the thinking that tofu is a substitute for meat, therefore big slab of meat = big slab of tofu. Meat should also be eaten this way (sparingly), or better yet, not eaten at all.

Simple Ways to Cook With Tofu:

• Use firm tofu for the following recipes. If it seems too soft, you can wrap in a dishtowel, and press it with a brick or pan of water, or something heavy to squeeze out excess water, just for 10 - 15 minutes.
• Small children will eat tofu straight up, raw, sliced, but since it's raw, it should at least be steamed, to kill bacteria, and prevent gas.
• Slice the firm tofu in 1/2 x 1" pieces, marinate, then fry both sides til crispy. Kids love this, and you can toss the pieces into pasta, rice, casseroles, stir fries etc. See Fried Tofu Recipe below for more details.
• For more adult tastes, add spices like ginger, cumin, etc to the marinade, OR use a spicy marinade, then stir fry with veggies OR add an Indian or Oriental spiced sauce. Serve with rice or noodles.
• Cut tofu in 1/2" slices, or in 1" sticks or fingers, marinate and bake or broil, serve with a grain and vegetables or salad. If you want to get fancy, coat with fine dry bread or cracker crumbs first. Great with catsup!
• Add raw sliced tofu to any veggie dish, or sauce. It'll soak up the flavors. It goes well with stir fried greens. Especially if you throw in a few spices, like cumin, turmeric, ginger, hing.
• There are a few tofu recipes on Savvy Vegetarian, e.g., tofu burgers, which have been a weekly staple at our house for many years.

Fried Tofu

Serves 4 - 6

Fried tofu is a cooking staple, simple, quick, satisfying, lends itself to variations, and goes in lots of quick and easy one dish meals. Kids love it, all by itself, and will reliably eat it.

Ingredients:

• 1 lb firm tofu, drained
• Braggs liquid aminos (preferred), or soy sauce
• 2 - 3 Tbsp olive oil OR ghee
• Optional: paprika, cumin, ginger, cayenne
• Optional: nutritional yeast

Directions

1. Slice the tofu in 1/2 X 1" pieces
2. Place in a bowl, sprinkle with braggs, and shake or stir
3. Let it sit for a few minutes
4. Optional: Add a bit of paprika, cumin, ginger, cayenne (teeny bit) to the braggs first
5. Optional: After marinating in Braggs, coat with nutritional yeast before frying.
6. Heat the oil on medium/high in a heavy non stick or well cured cast iron pan
7. Add the tofu, fry 5 minutes each side, turning with a spatula (that's the fun part)

What To Do With Your Fried Tofu

• Serve with pasta and steamed veggies, with a little tomato sauce and parmesan cheese
• Serve with rice or quinoa and steamed veggies, or salad
• Combine with sauteed veggies and salsa in a wrap
• Add to a pilaf, or veggie stew

"I am against killing and cruelty. That's why I'll always be a tofu and potatoes man." - Kevin Nealon

Savvy Vegetarian Tofu Recipes

• Butternut Squash in Coconut Milk With Tofu & Toasted Almonds (vegan)
• Greek Tofu Salad (vegan)
• Pasta, Tofu & Veggies (vegan)
• Tofu Burgers (vegan)
• Spicy Tofu Rice Pilaf (vegan)
• Vegan Organic Pumpkin Pie

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