I pity the fu

Eat with chopsticks.

We discussed this. It’s real fun n stuff.

I pity the fool who totally rules out tofu.
That fool was me. Don’t let the fu be u.

I admit that tofu dishes generally underwhelm me. But every so often a tofu use stands out as wonderful. To be frank I think most things that get the barbecue sauce treatment probably transcend their usual taste limitations.
Note that I did not say you actually have to BBQ these. I’m not really all that thrilled with grilled food. But BBQ sauce? I love it.

So get some tofu, but eat the fu’, don’t be one.

Feelings about tofu? Do tell. That means you, lurkers. Please?

BBQ Tofu adapted from New Recipes from Moosewood Restaurant
One 12oz. Package of firm silken tofu
1/2 c. Finely sliced spring green onions
1/2 Tsp. minced garlic
1/2 tsp. chili powder
1/4 tsp. ground coriander
3/4 tsp. ground cumin dash cayenne
1/3 roasted red bell pepper, chopped
SAUCE:
2 tsp. soy sauce
2 tsp. lemon juice
1 Tbsp. brown sugar
2 tsp. cider vinegar
1 tsp. mustard
2 T. Tomato paste
1/3 c. H2O
A few dashes of Tabasco
Put tofu on plate with paper towels, put another plate on top and weight down to drain out some moisture for about 30 minutes, then cube.
Sautée veggies and spices. Mix sauce ingredients. Combine veggies and tofu and put in a shallow pan, about 8×4 inches. Cover and bake at 350 for about a half hour then uncover for another 30, stirring periodically.

Taking risks

That girl. She got me to give tofu a shot and I liked it. I upped the ante. Took on scary new things. Threw doooowwwwwn. Well I didn’t do that. At least not with the finished product. That would be unsanitary.
i decided to take on Chocolate Covered Katie’s recipe for a vegan quiche. Not only did I give tofu a chance to repeat it’s performance, but I also tried nutritional yeast(used by vegans for its cheese-like essence)and Rosemary, that herbaceous little wench. I’ve held a grudge against Rosemary ever since at the age of about ten my mom added it to one of my favorite childhood dishes, corned beef hash, and I did not care for it. Favorite dish ruined by one little herb. I’ve grown up, stopped eating corned beef or any meat, and decided it’s time I let Rosemary redeem herself.
This smelled terrific in the oven. It tasted pretty darned good too. I want to play around more with the nutritional yeast. I don’t think Rosemary and I are besties, but we can be in the same room together now.
I did nothing to alter this recipe and Katie deserves the credit for creating it so I am not going to publish the recipe myself, I am going to send you to her.
Go try something that you used to hate today. Life’s too short to hold grudges.

Tofu: a (slight) change of heart

I actually found a use for tofu that may cause me to go out and purchase more. I know, I know. I’m a vegetarian. I am supposed to love tofu. And it does, to its credit, soak up the flavors of what it is cooked in. And you can play around with it to change its texture. But all this seems like a lot of trouble when I could cook with something that is delicious without having to be pressed, frozen, thawed, marinated, basted, tied up and smacked around. However, two words that made me reconsider: Ranch Dressing. Good lord, some fries to dip would be good right now.
Who convinced me to give tofu another shot? Chocolate-Covered Katie. Sounds kinky, but she seems pretty un-kinky, which probably means she secretly is? I dunno. Sorry Katie, I will stop contemplating your kink-factor. You seem like a very sweet girl.
Anywho, she posted this recipe for Crazy-Good Ranch Dressing that is so healthy you really could eat a bowl of it, and do no damage, unless you are sensitive to soy. Not only is this stuff healthy but I did not have to do anything to the tofu except mix it with my immersion blender aka the best unsung hero of my kitchen. Love that thing. Less clean-up than a normal blender. I digress. Make this dressing. Go tell Katie she’s awesome for inventing it. I did.
Eat it up with a spoon, if you want. I ate it with broccoli. Then celery. Then roasted beets. Then said what the hell and broke out the spoon. It was worth it.

It ain’t pretty…

Not only is it not too pretty but the angle I took this photo at is making me dizzy. Honestly I did not love this. I used a very dark miso and it was just a wee bit strong for me. And, try as I might, I just don’t care for plain tofu. This was Mark Bittman’s basic miso soup recipe from How to Cook Everything Vegetarian. I made an all-day dashi, where you soak a piece of dried kombu all day to infuse the water with that seaweed taste. I think I prefer the dashi made by boiling kombu briefly with ginger. In fact I may try this whole recipe again and use ginger in the dashi and the option of adding garlic to the soup. Then I’ll post the recipe. In the meantime don’t let the picture of my miso make you dizzy.