Tofu Learnin' 101

Confession: I'm a recovering tofu hater. I hated tofu so much that I would make fun of people who ate it. Why? Probably because I *innocently* make fun of people way too much. Also, I think, because I didn't understand how simple it was. Cooking with it just seemed way too complicated. I mean, I would have had to go to the store... buy tofu... and do who-knows-what with it. 
Flash forward a few years and I realized that there were all kinds of cooking blogs out there with awesome recipes and tutorials and general kitchen knowledge that I could benefit from! Once I read a few tips on cooking tofu, I was ready to go and now it is easy as tofu pie!
My one beef (pun intended) with tofu is that it takes a certain amount of foresight. I like mine dense, so I like to press it for a couple hours. If you're anything like me, you might have motivation to cook now, but who knows how you'll feel in a couple hours. Unfortunately, they've yet to invent self-pressing or pre-pressed tofu, so I generally start pressing when we start running low on food. If my motivation leaves me high and dry, I just refrigerate it and the next day I'll pick up where I left off!

Tofu Tips:

• Pressing your tofu is essential if you want it to be dense; the longer you press, the firmer it will be
• Tofu presses best if under moderate weight for a longer amount of time. I used to think that if I just put something really heavy on it, then it would press faster... I squished a lot of tofu that way! Now I use a cast iron skillet instead of a cast iron Dutch oven!
• To press tofu:

               -Drain tofu and place it on a towel

               -Fold the towel over the tofu and set something heavy on top (bag of flour, books,etc.)

               -Let tofu sit for at least 30 minutes or overnight

• The shelf stable tofu is best in sauces, dips and desserts. The extra firm cooks up okay, but I feel like the tofu from the fridge cooks much better. 
• Tofu will take on any flavor, so you can marinate it, toss it in a spice blend, serve it with a sauce... Flavor it how you would flavor any other protein. 
• To bake, preheat oven to 400 degrees. Cut into cubes or slice into steaks (be sure to flavor it!). Bake for 10 minutes, flip the tofu and bake for 10 more minutes.
• Yes, tofu does fry very well, but I cannot condone doing that to such a healthy chunk of soy!

Tofu Scramble

• 1 block extra firm tofu, pressed
• 1/2 onion, sliced
• 2 cloves garlic, chopped
• 1 T Bragg's or soy sauce
• 1t Turmeric
• pepper, to taste
• 2 cups assorted veggies, chopped (optional)
• Sriracha, to taste (optional)

1.) While tofu presses, prepare your onion, garlic and veggies (if using)

2.) Saute the veggies until soft, splashing with water if they start to stick

 

3.) Once veggies are soft, crumble the tofu into the pan, breaking up any large pieces with the spatula

4.) Add the turmeric, Bragg's and Sriracha and cook over medium heat for about 3-5 minutes (until the tofu is warmed through); season to taste with salt and pepper

Scrambled tofu is great eaten alone, in a breakfast wrap or sandwich, or tossed with a salad and topped with avocado! 

As you can see, this meal is FAST. Like, ready in about 10 minutes fast! That is, unless you've forgotten to press your tofu!