Tofu..

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Zedama
Zedama Posts: 33 Member
in Food and Nutrition
..is it as bad as it sounds? (: There's a recipe for tofu french fries in my Women's First magazine that I'm thinking of trying...

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  • Jessicaruby
    Jessicaruby Posts: 881 Member
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    i just tried it for the first time. i made a tofu stirfry. The thing with tofu is that it has no flavor so it is all about how you cook it and what sauces ect. you put on it. It was really filling and the stirfry turned out good but personally i dont like it due to its texture. it is soft and mushy
  • billsica
    billsica Posts: 4,741 Member
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    Its fantastic..

    no real taste, will just mostly take on the taste of whatever you make it with. I usually only get the firm stuff.
  • PatientBear
    PatientBear Posts: 92
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    I wouldn't eat it and I eat worms and grubs and tree bark. Tofu is nasty.
  • Zedama
    Zedama Posts: 33 Member
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    Hmm...no taste I can deal with, but I have to say I'm really weird about my textures.

    Lol Bear. Well, since you put it that away... I may have to pass on the tofu and join you for some worms! (:
  • Callianna25
    Callianna25 Posts: 9
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    Well, here's the thing about tofu. It doesn't have much flavor on its own, but it can be a great way to get some vegetarian protein if you put it into things. My former husband was a vegan, so I learned to do a lot with tofu... things like blending it up into a chocolate pudding, putting cubes of it into a salad (where it will take on the flavor of whatever dressing you use), blending it to be the cream base of a soup, or marinating it and baking it as a substitute for meat. I don't know if it's still in print (check on Amazon), but I HIGHLY recommend a cookbook called Tofu Cookery by Louise Hagler. It used to be my go-to cookbook while lots of others sat on the shelves. Good recipes, lots of pictures (love the pictures!)

    Can't comment on the French fry recipe-- I guess it would depend on the recipe. If it's just plain tofu and not much else, they'd probably be pretty bland, and wouldn't taste much like French fries.

    Ha ha... edited to add that someone above wrote the same thing about no flavor while I was writing mine. Great minds think alike. : ) Also, remember that as far as texture, you can get soft tofu for things like puddings and creamy recipes, and then firm tofu for cutting into cubes in stir-fries, etc.
  • Zedama
    Zedama Posts: 33 Member
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    Well, here's the thing about tofu. It doesn't have much flavor on its own, but it can be a great way to get some vegetarian protein if you put it into things. My former husband was a vegan, so I learned to do a lot with tofu... things like blending it up into a chocolate pudding, putting cubes of it into a salad (where it will take on the flavor of whatever dressing you use), blending it to be the cream base of a soup, or marinating it and baking it as a substitute for meat. I don't know if it's still in print (check on Amazon), but I HIGHLY recommend a cookbook called Tofu Cookery by Louise Hagler. It used to be my go-to cookbook while lots of others sat on the shelves. Good recipes, lots of pictures (love the pictures!)

    Can't comment on the French fry recipe-- I guess it would depend on the recipe. If it's just plain tofu and not much else, they'd probably be pretty bland, and wouldn't taste much like French fries.

    Ha ha... edited to add that someone above wrote the same thing about no flavor while I was writing mine. Great minds think alike. : ) Also, remember that as far as texture, you can get soft tofu for things like puddings and creamy recipes, and then firm tofu for cutting into cubes in stir-fries, etc.

    Thank you so much! (:
  • bhagavatilad1
    bhagavatilad1 Posts: 277
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    Tofu is an excellent source of protien, vegetarians use it all the time and it really doesn't have much flavor it absorbs the flavor of the recipe and you can use is sliced the hard kind in more manageable or shallow fry then add to your recipe its up to you. try it you'll like it.
  • Jorra
    Jorra Posts: 3,338 Member
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    I personally love tofu, especially when it's stir fried. I'd love to see that french fry recipe too.
  • Zedama
    Zedama Posts: 33 Member
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    The recipe is:

    Heat oven to 400F
    Gently toss 3 oz. firm tofu (cut into 1 3/4" x 1/2" sticks) with 1 egg white (beaten) and a pinch of cayenne. Bake 15 minutes or until cooked, turning once.

    I looove french fries, and this may be as close as I ever get again knowing how terrible they truly are! If I try it that is. (:
  • Jorra
    Jorra Posts: 3,338 Member
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    The recipe is:

    Heat oven to 400F
    Gently toss 3 oz. firm tofu (cut into 1 3/4" x 1/2" sticks) with 1 egg white (beaten) and a pinch of cayenne. Bake 15 minutes or until cooked, turning once.

    I looove french fries, and this may be as close as I ever get again knowing how terrible they truly are! If I try it that is. (:

    Sounds good! I've made my own baked fries with real potatoes that are really fantastic. I just spray them generously with PAM and top with paprika and pepper. If you don't like the tofu, maybe you can budget for real potatoes?
  • veganbaum
    veganbaum Posts: 1,865 Member
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    Mae sure your drain the tofu first, if you bought one that's packed in water: wrap it in a clean kitchen towel, place it on a baking sheet, place a plate on top and then something heavy on that. Leave for at least half an hour, otherwise it can be really moist. As other posters said, it takes on whatever flavor you want to give it, you can buy different types to get different textures, and you could even put it in the freezer then thaw it to get a different texture. If tofu isn't cooked well, yeah, it's kind of gross, you just have to know how to cook it.
  • carloP90X
    carloP90X Posts: 109
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    Please pay attention how your body reacts to tofu. If you are using tofu as your primary source of protein and you are keeping your carbs between 50-100g a day and your sodium is good but you are gaining weight then your body has an allergic reaction to it. Also large amounts of tofu daily is known to mess with your thyroid and estrogen levels.
  • Zedama
    Zedama Posts: 33 Member
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    Please pay attention how your body reacts to tofu. If you are using tofu as your primary source of protein and you are keeping your carbs between 50-100g a day and your sodium is good but you are gaining weight then your body has an allergic reaction to it. Also large amounts of tofu daily is known to mess with your thyroid and estrogen levels.

    Thanks for the much needed information! I have hypothyroidism and am glad you shared that about tofu! (:
  • Callianna25
    Callianna25 Posts: 9
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    A couple more thoughts... first, if you like French fries, there are recipes out there for French fries that you bake instead of frying. Here's one: http://allrecipes.com/recipe/simple-oven-fries/detail.aspx

    Also, I don't want to pour cold water on your get-healthy efforts, but there's a lot of controversy surrounding soy products lately, unless they're organic, because a lot of soybeans are now being genetically modified. I'm not sure exactly what's done to them but it doesn't sound too natural.

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