Sunday, July 10, 2011

Tofu Taste Tester

Nectarine 4 Dessert
I'm not a vegetarian. I sometimes wish I had the strength to be one, but I just love meat too dang much. So instead, I try to have a meatless day or two each week. Some weeks I'm better at this than others.  My reasons for doing so are simply:  I know it's healthy, I like to get nutritional value from what I put into my body, I feel good on the days I don't eat meat ( I'm less likely to get a tummy ache or feel overly full), I know it's the eco thing to do and, lastly, fruits and veggies taste better than most of the other junk out there. Back 'round New Year, Thrift Core had us come up with three resolutions, and although that's normally not my thing, I went for it. One of the things on my list was to buy more local, organic food, and with The Wedge Natural Food Co-op and several Farmer's Markets nearby, doing so hasn't been too difficult, and the food seriously tastes soooo much better! Reminds me, learning to sew was on my resolution list, too, but I haven't gotten on that, yet - I'm thinking around fall time I'll calm down enough to sit still and learn something useful. I got to. It's on the list!

VIA
But I'm sidetracking.....vegetarian....right. So, my Soul Flower boss, Peggy, is a vegetarian, and I told her that I had tofu for my first time in a soup at a local Thai restaurant. I was surprised to find, I like it - Never imagined I would, it's always looked like an icky, dirty sponge to me (a scrumptious dirty sponge, now). Peggy then told me that she loves deep fried tofu, and even though that kind of ruins the healthy side of it all, sometimes being slightly smart and a little naughty is what a good life is all about. Which is why I went home and deep fried me some tofu, and I was pleasantly surprised to find, I like that too. Peggy was right, it does taste gooood.

I still had leftover tofu which I had intended to put into this amazing Thai Tofu Noodle with Lemongrass Soup I stumbled upon, but I never took the time to go shopping for the rest of the ingredients. Instead, I pan cooked the leftover tofu in olive oil and soy sauce, tossed it into a veggie stir fry and topped off some teriyaki sesame noodles - Which once again was YUM.


The night I deep fried my tofu, all I did was pat the tofu dry and then tossed it into a mix of pepper & flour before frying it up in some olive oil. Then I threw it inside of some romaine leaves, with cucumber, red pepper, and some delicious tezatziki sauce, and that was that. My first time buying and cooking up tofu was a success, and I'm still excited to make that Lemongrass soup sometime soon, it just sounds amazing to me!

Do you like tofu? What's your favorite tofu recipe? I'd like to try out some more delicious, new and healthy meals. :)

4 comments:

  1. I've definitely had some delicious deep-fried tofu in dishes from Thai and Indian restaurants, but I've never quite figured out the best way to do it at home. Have you heard of/tried tempeh? It's more flavorful on its own than tofu, and the texture is more like meat (or meat loaf). Super good and definitely worth a try on one of your veggie nights! :)

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  2. I've never had tempeh; that is another food I'll have to try out. I'm guessing I might like it more than tofu, if the texture is similar to meat. I haven't had much tofu,obviously, but so far my favorite way to have it is in soup.

    I can't wait to experiment with some tempeh :) Thanks, Leiah!

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  3. so fun to experiment with a new ingredient. i've never deep fried tofu.. the salad looks delicious!

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  4. a little late for Ana's Archive Dive...wanted to say I really Love tofu and you've inspired me and made me hungry!
    thank you

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