Att tofu mavens | Imamother

Frumme

Tue, Feb 16 2021, 1:49 pm

Honestly my DD has liked tofu from the beginning without any baby friendly recipes. For example she loves it cubed and in soup. Or sliced and baked/grilled with a sauce (BBQ, teriyaki, pepper jelly, whatever)

I know one mother who would chop it into little cubes and tell her kids it was "baby mozzarella" and they'd eat it plain. LOL

MiriFr

Tue, Feb 16 2021, 1:52 pm

Frumme wrote:

Lol that’s so mean LOL

He hates it plain. Literally took it out of his mouth, handed it to me, and said “uch”.
How do you prepare it? Do you squeeze it out first?

mha3484

Tue, Feb 16 2021, 1:59 pm

My kids really like it. Buy extra firm. You can either cube it as it is and toss it in a few tablespoons of corn starch to absorb any remaining liquid or you can drain it under towels until its super dry.

You can fry it and coat in an Asian sauce
You can slice it in planks and bake it in any sauce you like that you would make meat or chicken in
I have crumbled it up and made "taco" meat
Once I did shwarma spiced tofu this was my least favorite

I actually like tempeh better. Its also soy like tofu but its texture is more firm. Millenial Kosher has a tempeh taco recipe thats really good.

MiriFr

Tue, Feb 16 2021, 2:01 pm

mha3484 wrote:

Thank you! This is super helpful. I have that cookbook, I’ll go take a look

MiriFr

Tue, Feb 16 2021, 2:05 pm

amother [ Mustard ] wrote:

I sautee it in tamari sauce. Personally, I make a stir fry with veggies. My kids like it just plain cubed with tamari sauce.

Do you dry it at all? Do you marinate it? (I have no idea how to prepare tofu. The block I got it sitting in water.)

Frumme

Tue, Feb 16 2021, 2:06 pm

MiriFr wrote:

Lol that’s so mean LOL

He hates it plain. Literally took it out of his mouth, handed it to me, and said “uch”.
How do you prepare it? Do you squeeze it out first?

It's pretty tasteless plain. Yes, do squeeze out the liquid. You don't have to go crazy with it but smush it between paper towels until it's reasonably dry so that it can take + absorb whatever seasoning/crumb/sauce you put on it.

I'd suggest you start with firm tofu, as opposed to extra firm or soft, since it's the most versatile. The smaller you slice or cube it, the more surface area there will be to take on a coating or sauce so it will be more flavorful than larger slices or cubes.

Like someone mentioned above, it's very easy to bread and fry/bake like schnitzel. If I put it in soup, I make a very flavorful broth, like a curry soup (doesn't have to be spicy), egg drop, chicken soup (can just use chicken soup mix....), Etc.

I like to grill it on a george foreman by first brushing it with a sauce on all sides, placing in grill, and reapplying the sauce while cooking for a few minutes. It doesn't take long to cook up this way.

If I'm baking, I roast the cubes with a sauce until they get a little crispy. How long depends on how small or large they're cut, so just shake the pan or flip the pieces a few times while baking and keep an eye on it.

You can also use it as a vegan "ricotta" like from this website: https://itdoesnttastelikechick.....11631 although really just some salt, tofu, and lemon juice, and maybe nutritional yeast will do the trick.

MiriFr

Tue, Feb 16 2021, 2:07 pm

Frumme wrote:

Thank you so much!

amother

Mustard

Tue, Feb 16 2021, 2:14 pm

MiriFr wrote:

Do you dry it at all? Do you marinate it? (I have no idea how to prepare tofu. The block I got it sitting in water.)

No. Personally, I grew up eating tofu all the time. We never marinated it or dried it. I just cut it straight from that block that comes in water.
When I make it for my kids, I just put some oil in the pan, cut up the tofu, put in a bit of tamari sauce and let it cook.
When I make it for myself, I usually sauté an onion then I cut up the tofu and put it in, I add whatever vegetables I want, put some tamari sauce in and let it cook.
Sometimes, I boil up whole wheat lasagna noodles and I layer the tofu and veggies between the noodles. I put some marinara sauce on top and I let it cook. This is my version of lasagna and I love it.

MiriFr

Tue, Feb 16 2021, 2:15 pm

amother [ Mustard ] wrote:

Cool! I wonder if he’d like that. I’ll give it a shot. Thank u!

ra_mom

Tue, Feb 16 2021, 2:29 pm

Marinate and bake on a cookie sheet. Great to top over pasta, rice or salad.
https://www.imamother.com/foru.....34384

I'll try to find my faux meatball and lasagna recipes. And tofu chocolate mousse.

Last edited by ra_mom on Tue, Feb 16 2021, 2:31 pm; edited 1 time in total

ra_mom

Tue, Feb 16 2021, 3:32 pm

Chocolate Mousse: Drain 1 *silken* tofu. Melt 1 bag chocolate chips. Puree tofu and melted chocolate with 1/2 cup of sugar and a splash of pure vanilla extract.

Mock Meatballs: Sauté chopped onion and veggies. Drop into food processor along with pressed tofu, breadcrumbs, a bit of flour if needed, season and taste as you go. Form into meatballs and bake for 20 minutes on cookie sheet. Drop into your favorite bubbling sauce and simmer 20 minutes.

Stuffed Peppers: Drain and rinse canned lentils. Mix with cooked rice and toss with taco seasoning until tasty. Stuff peppers with the mixture. Top with 2 spoons of marinara sauce. Bake uncovered in the oven, or cook in
covered crockpot, until tender.

Lasagna: Drain and press firm tofu. Process with lemon, fresh garlic, oregano, salt and pepper (nutritional yeast optional for cheesy taste) to make ricotta. Mix tofu ricotta with spinach (frozen, thawed and squeezed dry - if you have time it's even better if you sauté it with onion and garlic) and season very well until tasty.
Make a few layers - sauce, cooked lasagna, marinara sauce (you can add lentils to this layer for a heartier dish), tofu ricotta, sauce, lasagna... Top the lasagna with alternating dollops of marinara and tofu cream (silken tofu processed with parve milk, lemon, garlic, herbs s&p) and garnish with basil leaves. (You can make a small individual one for him in a small loaf pan the size of a cooked lasagna noodle; layer up, and it comes out neat and pretty).
Bake.

Chickpea Tuna Salad
https://www.liveeatlearn.com/c.....alad/

shanarishona

Tue, Feb 16 2021, 9:45 pm

I love tofu with:
Tamari sauce and maple syrup
Tamari sauce and peanut butter (you said nut free but I know peanut is different)
Teriyaki sauce (a small amount) and bone sucking sauce (similar to bbq sauce)

Drain.
Wrap in paper towels
Cut and cube

Firm and extra firm are yum

I cook uncovered 20-30 min (depending on if you want softer or crispier)

And I usually do roasted veg to go with it.
Or rice or noodles.