Help with tofu for a poor college student?

Question

I'm trying to add tofu to my diet, but I'm really not a very good cook, and because I'm in college I don't have that sophisticated of equipment/types of food to work with. Are there some quick and very simple recipes with firm tofu that would work for me?

Answer 1

here are some recipes

Choco Walnut Tofu Smoothie

Ingredients (use vegan versions):
* 1 block silken soft tofu
* 1 cocoa powder
* 2-3 teaspoon sweetener (varies) or syrup
* 1oz chopped walnut
* 1 cup unsweetened soymilk

Directions:
Smash tofu and put it into blender. add cocoa powder, sweetener and
soymilk and blend altogether. Add chopped walnut and mix it together.
Freeze about 1 hour - ice cream. Refrigerate - smoothie.
You can also top with cinnamon or maple syrup for flavoring.
Serves: 3
Preparation time: 5mins
http://grazingrecipes.blogspot.com/

Fried Tofu

In a large teflon frying pan, heat on medium high, put in about 2T sesame oil, 1-2T tamari, and 1-2T chopped scallions-- I also throw in about 1 tsp garlic powder (this is a fast, easy recipe). Cut up 1 block firm tofu into rectangles about an inch in diameter, and 1/4-1/2 inch thick. Heat up the mixture in the pan, stir to mix, spread out, then lay all the tofu slices in the hot mixture. Slosh them around a bit and flip over to coat on all sides with hot oli/tamari mixture. Cook about 5-10 minutes, every once in awhile press down on the slices with a spatula (forces out excess water). Gently turn slices over and continue cooking and pressing about 5-10 minutes more. End product is a very very tasty meat substitute. Problem-- it gets eaten very quickly and you must make more.
http://www.johnrussell.name/recipes/fried_to.htm

Mock Chicken Patties

Ingredients (use vegan versions):
* 1 cup water
* 1-14 oz block of Azumaya Tofu - firm (this is not a silken tofu)
* 4 tablespoon chicken style seasoning
* 1 tablespoon beef style seasoning
* 1 cup finely chopped raw cashews
* 3 cups regular rolled oats
* 1 medium minced onion
* 1 cup finely chopped celery

Directions:
Blend until smooth: The water, tofu, chicken and beef seasonings. Pour into a bowl and stir in: the chopped cashews and oats. While the oats are soaking up some of the moisture, braise the onion and celery in a very small amount of oil, then add to the above mixture.Form patties onto a medium-low heat, that has been lightly coated with oil or spayed with Pam. Lightly brown on both sides.Serve with your favorite gravy.
Makes 24 to 28 Patties
Serves: 12-14
Preparation time: 20 minutes
http://recipeswithtofu.blogspot.com/

Faux Fish Cakes

Serving Size : 8
1 pound extra-firm tofu
2 cups cooked brown rice
1 small onion -- minced
6 tablespoons nutritional yeast flakes
2 tablespoons minced celery
2 tablespoons soy sauce -- (2-1/2)
1 tablespoon lemon juice
1 tablespoon sea salt
1/2 teaspoon dry mustard
1/2 teaspoon dill weed
1/4 teaspoon white pepper
Pinch celery seed
1/4 cup unbleached all-purpose flour

Mix the tofu, rice, onion, yeast and celery in a large bowl. Process the remaining ingredients, except for the flour, in a food processor until well blended. Add to the tofu mixture, along with the flour. Mix well. Form into 4-oz. patties and broil or pan fry for about 4 minutes on each side.
http://www.fatfreevegan.com/soy/faux.shtml

Judges Choice: Tofu Burger yield: 6 burgers

Ingredients:
· 1 lb tofu
· 1/2 cup whole wheat flour
· 3 Tbsp. nutritional yeast
· 2 Tbsp. vegetable bouillon powder
· pepper to taste
· 2 Tbsp. soy sauce
· 1/4 cup (or more) sesame seeds
· 1 small scrubbed potato
· 1/4 tsp. (or more) garlic powder
· onion powder to taste, or one small onion
Grind the tofu, potato and onion (if using) in a food processor. Don't let it get too fine. Mix in remaining ingredients, shape into burgers and bake at around 350 degrees on a very lightly oiled cookie sheet for 15-20 minutes, turning once. They can also be fried.
http://www.johnrussell.name/recipes/burgers.htm#contest2


Tofu chocolate pudding:

Blend 2 (12 oz)packages firm or extra firm tofu in the blender.

Melt 10-12 oz choc. chips. After they have melted, add 3 tablespoons of honey or maple syrup.

Add the chips and honey mixture to the tofu in the blender. Blend until mixed.

Tofu Stuffed with Brown Rice and Mushroom Dressing

The Tofu
1 pound extra firm tofu (hard Asian tofu is best)
1 cup vegetable broth (I used No-Chicken broth by Imagine Foods)
1/4 tsp. sesame oil
1 1/2 tbsp. soy sauce
1 tsp. minced garlic
1/4 tsp. poultry seasoning (or blend of ground thyme and sage)
Cut the tofu in half through the middle (hard tofu will already be cut).

Then cut each of the halves in triangles by cutting down through the top on the diagonal. (Yes, my favorite knife is purple.)

Turn the triangles cut-side down, and cut in half to form eight equal triangles.

Using a slender knife, carefully cut around the edges of the long side of each triangle, about 1/4 inch away from the edge. Be sure to hold the knife at the same angle as the edge of the tofu to avoid cutting through the outside of the tofu. Make your cuts as deep as you can without risking cutting through the outside wall.

Making additional cuts in a grid pattern helps in getting the tofu out.

Use a spoon (a grapefruit spoon works great here) to remove the tofu from the middle of each triangle. Go as deep as you can, being careful to keep the pouch intact. Set aside the tofu that you take out of the middle--you can use it in the gravy.

Put the tofu pouches in a shallow pan that will hold all of them on their sides. Mix the broth with the remaining ingredients and pour it over the tofu, making sure that some goes into the pouches.

Marinate for at least 30 minutes; then carefully turn the tofu over and marinate the other side for 30 minutes or more. When the rice is done, proceed with stuffing.

Brown Rice and Mushroom Dressing
1 large onion, chopped
1 rib celery, chopped
2 tsp. garlic, minced
6 ounces mushrooms, chopped
1 1/2 tsp. thyme
1/2 tsp. rubbed sage
1/2 tsp. rosemary
1/8 tsp. black pepper
1 cup long-grain brown rice
2 1/2 cups water
1 tsp. salt (optional)
1/3 cup chopped fresh parsley

Spray a large, non-stick pot with canola oil and set it on medium-high heat. Add the onions and celery, and cook until the onions start to become translucent, about 3 minutes. Add the garlic, mushrooms, herbs, and rice and sauté for another minute. Add the water and salt and cover tightly. Turn the heat very low and cook for about 45 minutes, or until rice is tender and water is mostly absorbed. Resist opening the lid until 45 minutes have passed!

Stuffing the Tofu
Preheat the oven to 400 F. Drain the marinade from the tofu and reserve it. Add the parsley and 1/4 cup of the marinade to the rice and stir. Spray two medium-sized baking dishes with non-stick spray. Using a small spoon, gently stuff each piece of tofu with as much rice as you can fit in. Stand the stuffed tofu in one of the two baking dishes. Put the remaining rice dressing in the other dish. Put both dishes into the oven and bake until the tofu is becoming light brown, about 35 minutes. Watch closely to make sure it doesn't burn on the bottom. Serve atop additional rice dressing with gravy (recipe below), if desired. Serves 4.


Tofu-Mushroom Gravy
This can be made without the tofu or mushrooms, if you choose.
1 small onion, minced
extra tofu from making Stuffed Tofu
1 clove garlic, minced
5 mushrooms, sliced
1/4 cup unbleached white flour (or gluten-free flour of choice)
tofu marinade
about 1 1/4 cups vegetable broth
1/2 cup plain soymilk
1 tsp. poultry seasoning
1 tsp. thyme
1 tbsp. nutritional yeast
1/8 tsp. Liquid Smoke seasoning
salt and pepper, to taste

Add enough vegetable broth to the reserved marinade to make 2 cups of liquid.

Spray a non-stick sauce pan with canola oil. Add the onion and sauté for about 3 minutes. Add the tofu and garlic, and cook, stirring, for 1 minute. Add the mushrooms and cook until they exude their juices. Stir in the flour and cook for about 3 minutes, stirring constantly. Slowly stir in the vegetable broth mixture. Add the remaining ingredients and cook, stirring, until mixture thickens, about 5 to 10 minutes. I

http://blog.fatfreevegan.com/2006/11/tofu-stuffed-with-brown-rice-and.html

Answer 2

Yep, try cutting firm tofu in squares by first cutting in long pieces then cross cut. Saute in a bit of Olive oil and soy sauce for a few minutes. Add vegies of your choice and cook stirring every 30 seconds or so till cooked to your liking. You don't need a wok, a plain old deep frying pan will work fine. This is usually done over med. Hi heat. You can add 1 tablespoon of cornstarch to about 1/3 cup of cold broth or water stirring thoroughly till mixed. Add it at the last of the cooking and stir to make a thicked sauce. Play around with different sauces, garli and wine. You really can't go wrong, just learn what you like. Also the soft tofu is great in blender drinks. You can freeze peeled bananas, add fruit, tofu, soymilk or regular milk or juice and frozen and or fresh fruit of your choice. Protein powder ups the protein content too. I sometimes add vanilla flavoring too.

Answer 3

You can get some boxed rice that's already par-boiled, so cooking time is cut way down. You can get some tamari or soy sauce and powdered ginger and some garlic powder. Cut the tofu into bite size pieces and marinate in the tamari and spices (ginger, garlic) in a zip lock bag. If you don't have tamari, use soy sauce. Marinate for a few minutes, then microwave with the rice. Add veggies. Mmm, tasty and easy.

If you have a hot plate, then you can stir fry some veggies and add the tofu. Either way, very easy.

Answer 4

BBQ TOFU
INGREDIENTS:

firm or extra firm tofu, well drained
barbeque sauce, about 1 cup
PREPARATION:
Preheat oven to 325 degrees.
Line a cooking sheet with aluminum foil. This will help make cleaning up easier. Spoon a thin layer of barbeque sauce across the lined pan.

Slice pressed tofu into 1/2 inch thick cutlets and place in pan.

Spoon a layer of sauce across the top of the tofu and bake for approximately one hour, checking occasionally so as not to overcook.
Tofu is done cooking when sauce has baked in and tofu is moist, but not saucy. Serve in a sandwich with lettuce, tomatoes,

Answer 5

I'm a poor college student myself, and last semester the only cooking equipment I had to work with was a microwave.

The easiest/simpliest way to incorportate tofu into my diet was to eat it with some brown rice and a vegetable. Just get yourself some packets of those quick to cook microwavable brown rice and cook as directed with the tofu and your vegetable (I usually had broccoli or zucchini). Add some tamari and ginger, and that's all there is to it.

The best part about it is that it takes about 2 minutes to cook and there aren't a lot of ingredients you have to worry about.

Answer 6

I don't do much tofu, because I love the Wheat Glueten and the "mock" meats available from Morningstar Farms, Boca, Quorn, and a few others.
Good luck

Answer 7

Whatever happened to ramen noodles, peanut butter, and Cheerios? (they're easy to fix.) What happened to left-over cold pizza and beer in the morning?

Seriously, hit the net and practice making a great hot-and-sour tofu soup--- it'll get you through final exams way better than ramen will.

Answer 8

You know what-- I wouldn't get too excited about tofu. There are some very questionable things that go on with tofu manufacturing that you can google and read about. It might be better to experiment with quinoa and amaranth as alternate proteins... and millet, etc. You can do all kinds of things with them, and raw nuts... make butters, sauces, etc. Just my two cents here!

Answer 9

All fruits are fruit and vegetables. A "vegetable" is a plant, any part of which is employed for food.

Answer 10

In the superstore, fruits are usually selected much too soon. Some are rocks, many are bad. Some of the fresh vegetables are right (zucchini, onions, garlic, lettuce, greens, and a few others) so I'd have to go with vegetables.

Answer 11

all you need to know about tofu is that it essentially absorbs the flavors around it. its pretty much completely bland when alone, so it will gain the flavors of anything you put around it.

be creative.