Tofu!

Yup, you read the title right - tofu is the topic today!

I have always had a fear of tofu. I remember that on a team trip one time, one of the mom’s had brought tofu to be one of our healthy snacks, and I was grossed out! Tofu, seriously? EW! It is a funny block of white stuff, it doesn’t have flavor of its own, what is the point? In all honesty, I sort of felt this way just a few days ago. But I’ve been reading about it on the blog world and the rave reviews that it receives, and decided that perhaps it was time. So, I went for it and bought some ‘extra-firm’ tofu in the natural section of my local grocery store.

I’ll keep you in suspense with my final review, and let you know how I prepared it.

First, I took the tofu out of the package. You want to get some of the moisture out of the tofu..... Wrap it in a paper towel, then in a dish towel, then place something heavy on top to weigh it down (I used a skillet with a bottle of olive oil in it) :)

I left it like this for about 30 minutes, but you could do it anywhere from 10-60 minutes. I unwrapped it and proceeded to cut it into cubes. I did leave two slices, that you will see further down. I placed these pieces in a tupperware, added soy sauce and some sesame oil and let marinate for 30 minutes. You can let it marinate for several hours. Then I took it out, sprayed the pan with nonstick spray and gently placed my tofu inside.

Some of the pieces were a little crumbly, despite it being extra firm. Not sure what to do about that.... anyways.... I browned slowly so that the outside was a little crispy and golden. Voila!
I placed the tofu alongside a dish of coconut beans and rice. I had eaten a salad while the tofu was cooking. [Coconut beans and rice: chop up onions and garlic, place in pan with olive oil and saute until translucent. Then add in 3 cups of cooked brown rice, one can of drained red kidney beans, and a can of lite coconut milk. I added salt and pepper at the end to season. This was based off of a recipe that I saw on eatingbirdfood.com]

For the big review - I LOVED it! It was delicious....soaked up the marinade flavors and I was surprisingly in love with the texture. Soft, but a little crisp on the outside. It reminded me a little bit of the texture of eggs. It was delicious and I enjoyed my leftovers in several ways throughout the rest of the weekend. Below is my yummy lunch from Saturday - coconut beans and rice, a green salad with romaine, tomato, avocado pieces, green bell pepper and balsamic vinaigrette. I toasted the whole wheat pita pocket, added in the tofu cubes, rice, wheat berries, lettuce, avocado and a little dressing. It was an awesome summer time meal - light and refreshing!!

Here's a shot of inside the pocket....
My final tofu creation was using the slices that I had made. I did this on Sunday and treated it as a burger, using the tofu in place of meat. Sandwich thin (100 calories), lettuce, tomato, garlic hummus, avocado and 2 tofu slices. Delicious.

Lesson for the week - don't be afraid to try something new in the kitchen, you just might realize that you have been missing out on something delicious for far too long! Now if you're ready to be really courageous.... go buy some extra-firm tofu and enjoy it this week! (If you do, make sure to let me know what you think and how you prepared it!!)

XO, Mary