The Semi-Vege Experiments - Tofu II

Back on the vegetarian trail! I've been working to eat less meat, but I never realized how prevalent it is in our diet. I've been good, though. I'm choosing veggie options at restaurants (except delis; I love deli meat despite how awful it is for me), and I'm trying to eat more eggs and pasta. The hardest part is not feeling like I'm giving up on something I love. I still haven't figured out how to combat that. I might just have to not put meat in the house, or very little of it, so it's not that I'm avoiding it, it's just not there to eat.

Image copyright Compassion over Killing

I decided to try the tofu taco recipe from Try Veg, since I froze a lot of tofu from my sauté experiment. Upon defrosting, I found that the tofu had totally changed texture! I'd heard this would happen, but I had no idea it would be so dramatic. Fresh tofu is sort of like Jell-o in texture. The frozen stuff was more like a sponge, interior holes and all! I was really suspicious of the change (who wants to eat a sponge?) but it had a better mouth-feel than I thought it would. I wrung it out like a sponge to get rid of excess water, then it ripped into small chunks and cooked it just like ground turkey.

The tacos were ABSOLUTELY FANTASTIC. I cannot use enough caps and wingdings to emphasize this. Tofu is all about flavor, and the recipe gives quite a nice one to the tofu, which is really just bulk. I used storebought pasta sauce in place of tomato sauce, which also gave it a nice touch. I popped the filling onto homemade thick tortillas and topped them with cheddar cheese and salsa. Ohmigod, they were fantastic. I'm bookmarking this recipe as one of my favorites. They reheat well, too, since I had to have leftovers for the next day. I just microwaved the filling on a cold tortilla for about 30 seconds and viola - instant lunch.

I really liked the frozen texture, so I'm definitely going to use it more. Anyone tried any other recipes involving tofu?