Eat Your Veggies

Tofu is made from soybeans, in case you don’t know. And, the other important thing to know about it is that it’s not yucky–at least not when it’s cooked properly. If you’ve had bad tasting tofu, it’s because the person who fixed it didn’t know how to cook it.

The first thing of which to be aware when thinking about having tofu is that tofu takes on the flavor of the items with which it is cooked. It has texture, but not flavor on its own. There are even several types of tofu each with a different texture. Tofu is categorized by amount of softness or firmness. The range is from soft to extra firm. The soft tofu is great for fruit smoothies or any other dish that calls for a puree. My husband and I even once made pumpkin pies with tofu. We used less pumpkin pie filling and replaced some of it with the pureed tofu. We fed it to several of our friends, none of whom suspected a thing.

Firm tofu is excellent for stir fry dishes. Just cut it into cubes and saute if first in a little oil. You can then take it out of the wok or frying pan and set it aside while you cook the vegetables. If you have ever had Szechuan Bean Curd at a Chinese restaurant, you have experienced one of the best uses for tofu, ever. In order to achieve the same texture as they do in the restaurants, you have to drain the tofu and then freeze it. When you thaw it back out and fry it in hot oil until brown, you will get a similar result as the restaurants.

My husband and I also like to slice firm tofu into thin rectangles, maybe about a 1/4″ thick. We then fry the tofu on both sides until golden brown. We serve it with our favorite vegetables (quite often asparagus spears and mashed potatoes with vegetarian brown gravy).

There are many ways to incorporate the protein of tofu into your cooking and still enjoy the food. If you are unfamiliar with cooking tofu, give it a try. There are a multitude of recipes available online if you get to the point of wanting to increase your tofu repertoire. Happy Tofuing!