Saturday, March 19, 2016

Mealtime Magic: Tofu Revolution

National Nutrition Month in March is a great time to celebrate good food and healthy eating. One easy way to focus on healthy eating this month is by getting back to the basics and consuming simple, plant-based foods. Healthy eating starts with clean ingredients.

One surprising option is tofu, which can be incorporated into a variety of dishes - not just stir fries and Asian cuisine. To make sure you're getting the best quality, one option is to buy U.S. grown, non-GMO/organic tofu such as House Foods. Tofu comes in a variety of textures (silken, soft, medium firm, firm, extra firm, super firm) to fit a variety of dishes, which I got a chance to sample.


To help launch a "Tofu Revolution" they have several recipes, some of which I've shared below. In my experience, silken and soft tofu works best in desserts, dressings, and smoothies; the firmer varieties are good in stir fries and cooking; and the medium work in meals where you want a little texture but it doesn't have to hold up to heavy cooking.

My kids happily ate both of these recipes, and you can find lots more kid-friendly ideas at the website!

Ginger Spiced Tofu Cupcakes

½ pkg House Foods Premium or Organic Tofu Soft, drained
2 tsp. Vanilla Extract
1/3 c. Vegetable Oil
1¼ c. Vegan Sugar
1 c. all purpose flour
½ cup whole wheat flour
2 tsp. baking powder
½ tsp. baking soda
½ tsp. salt
2 tsp. ground cinnamon
1 Tbsp. ground ginger
¼ tsp. ground clove
Directions: Preheat oven to 350F. In a food processor, purée tofu, vanilla and oil until smooth. Once combined, add dry ingredients and pulse a few times.

With a spatula, scrape sides and bottom of food processor. Pulse a few times more. In a cupcake pan lined with wrappers, scoop in batter and bake for 20 min. or until done.

Once done, let cupcakes cool in pan. When they have cooled, top with desired frosting and serve.

Crispy Tofu Sticks

1 pkg House Foods Premium or Organic Tofu Extra Firm, drained and pressed
1 C all purpose flour
1 tsp garlic powder
1 tsp salt
1/2 tsp black pepper
2 eggs, beaten
1 1/2 C cornflakes, crushed into small pieces

Preheat oven
Slice Tofu into 1 x 1 x 3 in. sticks. In a medium bowl, mix together flour, garlic powder, salt and pepper and set aside. Add beaten eggs to a small bowl, and cornflakes to a third bowl.

To coat Tofu sticks, lightly roll in seasoned flour, dip in egg, and roll in cornflakes, turning to coat all sides. Repeat for remaining Tofu sticks and place on baking sheet. Bake for approximately 15 minutes, or until golden brown and crispy.
to 400 degrees.



No comments:

Post a Comment