I knew learning to eat, let alone enjoy eating tofu was going to be a key factor in my vegetarian adventure. Life had taught me that tofu was a tasteless, strangely shape-keeping mush type substance whose "taste-less" taste was an outrageous lie. While I marveled at its futuristic cubed shape, as soon as it spread against the roof of my mouth under the slightest pressure of my tongue the gag reflex immediately responded with an overwhelming cry of "What the hell are you thinking?" Luckily I discovered the two things that turn ordinary tofu into something the average person can actually enjoy eating.
Thing one: heat.
The worst thing about un-cooked tofu is the texture, or lack thereof. Especially when you first start eating it, you need to cook the crap out of your tofu. The easiest way to do this is by baking / roasting. Pan frying requires extensive prep to be any good, such as: draining, pressing, marinating, draining, etc. Broiling is the "fast" method often touted in recipe books. Sure, its fast, but you can very easily end up with a crispy-outside, mushy-inside disaster. With baking its is easy to get consistent, palatable results.
Thing two: spice.
Even with a good sauce, unseasoned tofu still sucks. Ditto for fried tofu, including the breaded and deep variety. Tofu is probably the only thing on the planet that just deep frying doesn't immediately help get better. Marinating is the best way to introduce flavor into tofu. The basic concept is to push out the water from packing, then let it soak up the marinade. You can also "marinade in place" when baking. This gives you the basic effect of marinating without all the pesky planning ahead. Marinades are pretty much the same as animal-flesh recipes with soy sauce used as the salty substance as it adds some color and additional flavor that goes well with tofu.
The best way to flavor tofu is to stick with what you like. Full flavored varieties work best: Mexican, Thai, Indian, and "Buffalo" are some of my favorites. I suggest going to the farmer's market and going to town in the spice aisle. For what costs $3 to $5 at Whole Paycheck Foods I can get twice as much for less than $1 at my local farmer's market. Fresh add-ins such as garlic, ginger, onion, and peppers (all kinds) are also good.
Lastly, a little citrus never hurts. Lemon, lime, or orange juice not only make your marinade more efficient, they tend to counteract and "odd flavor" inherent in tofu. Since you'll be impatient and tend not to want or remember to press your tofu, this will be an important ingredient to remember. One to two tablespoons per package is all it takes.
One + Two = Four OR the Synergy of Heat and Spice.
Put all two things together and you have my universal tofu base recipe. This plus the spices of your choice will get you tolerable tofu for carnivores, or really good tofu if you are a tofu connoisseur.
1 - package extra-firm tofu (12-16oz, vacuum sealed is best)
1 - tablespoon olive oil
2 - tablespoons Braggs Liquid Aminos (or soy sauce, or tamari)
2 - tablespoons lemon, lime, or orange juice
half cup boiling water + half a no salt added vegetable bouillon cube
OR
half cup no salt added vegetable broth
1 to 3 tablespoons spices, herbs, etc. This is where you get creative.
Preheat oven to 425 degrees F. Mix everything but tofu in 13x9 or similar glass baking dish. Make sure bouillon cube is fully dissolved. Cut up and add tofu (3/8" slices, triangles, or cubes.) Mix around to coat tofu. The tofu should be wading, not swimming in the marinade. Bake for 30 to 60 minutes uncovered until most of liquid is evaporated and tofu is at desired consistency. Turn tofu every 10 to 15 minutes, more frequently at end, with a metal spatula.
Favorite Variations:
Lemon Pepper - up lemon juice to a quarter of a cup, spice with lots of black pepper and a clove or two of fresh garlic.
Buffalo - replace olive oil with 2 to 3 tablespoons Earth Balance. replace water+bouillon/broth with quarter cup of hot sauce (such as Texas Pete.) Melt Earth Balance, add other stuff, add tofu and bake. After tofu is done, toss in some more hot sauce to savorize it.
20091102
20091027
Deciding to Meet and Eat No Meat
My first "attempt" at not eating meat was pretty much a dare. It wasn't really an attempt to change my life, I was just harassed into it by a friend who was vegetarian. It was one of the most agonizing weeks of my life. That's right, one week, that's all I could muster. I had eaten single meals that were meat free, even had favorite dishes at a couple of vegetarian restaurants, but the meal before and the meal after always contained something that used to have face.
For years I was content in my carnivorous ways. I even converted my vegetarian girlfriend to the dark meat side. I slowly grew more conscious of the food I was eating, mostly based on how crappy I felt afterwards. Fast food was reduced to a road travel necessity. Words like "organic", "free-range", and "grass-fed" became required pronouns to any food purchase. Regular grocery stores were out, "fancy" grocery stores were in. All these things were good moves, but these changes didn't make me feel that much less crappy, physically or mentally. Despite the changes I made and relative lack of results, I still hadn't hit "rock-bottom."
Eventually the aforementioned formerly-vegetarian girlfriend decided to ditch the "sins of the flesh" and return to her vegetarian ways. At this point I entertained giving up meat for the first time in my life. This wasn't a "keep the girlfriend happy" move. This was a "examine your life and what it really means" type of decision. I came up with my own personal mantra/statement/theory/reason/rule for not eating meat.
I will only eat what I personally could produce from start to finish.
This pretty covers all my bases: cruelty to animals, killing of animals, environmental concerns, fair-trade concerns, and plain old self-reliance. Having seen video and in real life what it takes to make a living animal ready to slap on the grill, I can honestly say that I don't have it in me. This one simple rule is what convinced me to give up eating meat. And it worked. 30+ years of eating chicken, cow, pig, etc. everyday (save for that one week) were over.
"So great. Now you don't eat meat. You can have your self-righteous, salad eating life and ride off into the sunset on that cow you didn't eat. But I like to eat real food."
By the way, that was you, the reader talking to yourself in your head. I can pretty much guess what you were thinking since quite a few people have verbalized their thoughts to me on this subject. But let's get one thing straight, I still really don't like salad that much.
I was born a picky eater. Having milk allergies I was raised on soy formula, then moved on to jello water (essentially kool aid) and then to peanut butter sandwiches. Growing up I hated starches that weren't fried or mashed potatoes or white bread. The only vegetable I would eat was corn. When I went to a salad bar I would come back with a plate of croutons, bacon bits, and cheese covered in Italian dressing. I routinely made myself a peanut butter and something sandwich (more on this later) for dinner because I turned my nose up at what my mother had made. Only slight improvements were made as I got older. My diet was textbook, true to America "meat and potatoes."
I am slowly moving toward a more healthy overall diet, but it's still pretty much "meat like substance" and potatoes. I'm guessing it's going to take some amount of time measured in years before I lead a self-righteous salad eating life. Until then I'll keep finding ways to make tofu, wheat gluten, and beans (battered and fried of course) as equally as satisfying as their hooved and feathered counterparts.
As for you, now it's your turn. What is the one simple thing in your life that will challenge you to give up the meat?
For years I was content in my carnivorous ways. I even converted my vegetarian girlfriend to the dark meat side. I slowly grew more conscious of the food I was eating, mostly based on how crappy I felt afterwards. Fast food was reduced to a road travel necessity. Words like "organic", "free-range", and "grass-fed" became required pronouns to any food purchase. Regular grocery stores were out, "fancy" grocery stores were in. All these things were good moves, but these changes didn't make me feel that much less crappy, physically or mentally. Despite the changes I made and relative lack of results, I still hadn't hit "rock-bottom."
Eventually the aforementioned formerly-vegetarian girlfriend decided to ditch the "sins of the flesh" and return to her vegetarian ways. At this point I entertained giving up meat for the first time in my life. This wasn't a "keep the girlfriend happy" move. This was a "examine your life and what it really means" type of decision. I came up with my own personal mantra/statement/theory/reason/rule for not eating meat.
I will only eat what I personally could produce from start to finish.
This pretty covers all my bases: cruelty to animals, killing of animals, environmental concerns, fair-trade concerns, and plain old self-reliance. Having seen video and in real life what it takes to make a living animal ready to slap on the grill, I can honestly say that I don't have it in me. This one simple rule is what convinced me to give up eating meat. And it worked. 30+ years of eating chicken, cow, pig, etc. everyday (save for that one week) were over.
"So great. Now you don't eat meat. You can have your self-righteous, salad eating life and ride off into the sunset on that cow you didn't eat. But I like to eat real food."
By the way, that was you, the reader talking to yourself in your head. I can pretty much guess what you were thinking since quite a few people have verbalized their thoughts to me on this subject. But let's get one thing straight, I still really don't like salad that much.
I was born a picky eater. Having milk allergies I was raised on soy formula, then moved on to jello water (essentially kool aid) and then to peanut butter sandwiches. Growing up I hated starches that weren't fried or mashed potatoes or white bread. The only vegetable I would eat was corn. When I went to a salad bar I would come back with a plate of croutons, bacon bits, and cheese covered in Italian dressing. I routinely made myself a peanut butter and something sandwich (more on this later) for dinner because I turned my nose up at what my mother had made. Only slight improvements were made as I got older. My diet was textbook, true to America "meat and potatoes."
I am slowly moving toward a more healthy overall diet, but it's still pretty much "meat like substance" and potatoes. I'm guessing it's going to take some amount of time measured in years before I lead a self-righteous salad eating life. Until then I'll keep finding ways to make tofu, wheat gluten, and beans (battered and fried of course) as equally as satisfying as their hooved and feathered counterparts.
As for you, now it's your turn. What is the one simple thing in your life that will challenge you to give up the meat?
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