I am really interested in cooking with tofu more than I already do. Does anyone have some favorite recipes (or book recommendations) they can post? Savory and sweet are fine.
I cook tofu every week, I love it! Some of my recipes come from books, but I use a few from websites and then some of my own creations. Also, I find that if you use extra firm tofu, you can substitute it for chicken in some recipes.
I make this grilled tofu dish pretty regularly: http://eatingwell.com/recipes/tofu_mediteranean_salad.html I use a grill pan instead of a real grill, and it works fine.
I also make this one pretty often, the sauce is great! I use baby spinach instead of watercress. http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/102943
I know tofu is a healthy food, but every once in a while, I like to cut it into cubes, dust it with cornstarch, and fry it to make agedashi tofu. My sauce is 2 tablespoons of instant dashi broth (any more and I think it's too fishy tasting), 2 tablespoons of soy sauce and one tablespoon of mirin, and I top the tofu with some sliced green onions.
Steamed tofu is also super easy to make. Cut the tofu into slices, and steam it for about 3 minutes. I make a sauce of 2 tablespoons low sodium soy sauce, 1 teaspoon chili garlic sauce, and 1/2 teaspoon sesame oil. The sauce is my random creation, I still think it's a little too salty, so you might want to play around with it. Then I top the tofu with thinly sliced daikon radish (I use my zester), sliced green onion, and rice seasoning (the stuff I buy is a mix of seaweed, sesame seeds, sugar, and salt).
Another good use of tofu is in noodles, especially if you want to make one block of tofu last for two meals. One noodle dish I like is with buckwheat soba noodles. I got the idea from a recipe on yumsugar.com, but that site is blocked at my office, so I can't post the link. It's pretty easy to make. I adapted it a little, the original recipe served it in a dashi broth that I thought was WAY too fishy, so I left it out entirely. Boil the noodles according to the package, and set them aside. While noodles are cooking, shred some daikon radish (as much as you want, I love it, so I do about 1 cup) and slice some green onions. If you like shiitake mushrooms, you can baste them w/ some olive oil and broil a few (3 mins each side) and then thinly slice them). Cut 1/2 block of tofu into 1/2 inch cubes. Steam them for about 3 minutes. While the tofu is steaming, wilt some baby spinach/greens of your choice with some garlic. To construct the dish, toss the noodles, tofu, greens, green onions, and mushrooms. Garnish w/ daikon and soy sauce. I make a sauce of 3 tablespoons soy sauce and 2 tablespoons of mirin, like the original yumsugar recipe suggests.
Wow, that was a long post! I have some more recipes in books at home, if you'd like them.
For a sweet dessert dish you can make tofu chocolate mousse. SO good (it tastes exactly the same as regular chocolate mousse, same texture and everything) and it's way way way better for you since you cut out all of the fat of the whipping cream and add the health benefits of tofu.
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I use silken tofu alot - it's great for thickening sauces or as a base for dips and the like.
My favorite so far is my pesto - in the winter I make it with spinach (fresh or frozen) and in the summer with basil. Zero olive oil, more protein, and creeeeaaammmy. And shelf stable, so if I have it on hand and I'm using frozen spinach I can literally have pesto ready to go in all of 5 minutes.
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