Friday, July 20, 2012

Tofu Challenge

As I was prepping dinner this morning, I realized I like tofu.  It's not that I crave it, really enjoy it, or am opposed to eating meat.  I like it for the same reason I like frozen vegetables.  It's a cheap, healthy convenience food.  Here are some reasons to friend tofu:
1. It's inexpensive, around $1 per pound.
2. A sealed package will keep in the fridge for a month.
3. Unlike meat, it doesn't have to be defrosted, just open and eat or cook.
4.  It's low calorie, high protien.
5.  Tofu is versatile.  It takes on the flavor of what it is cooked with.  Marinated, it can taste like cheese.  Cooked, it can be crispy.  Crumbled it can replace meat.  Scrambled it can replace eggs.  Soft tofu blended with a jar of spaghetti sauce makes a great creamy tomato soup.

So this morning as a stared at two zucchini, a tub of ricotta cheese, and some spinach pondering what to make, I called on the unopened package of firm tofu in the fridge and some frozen pepper stir fry (remember I said I like frozen veggies too!).  Layer that with couple of jars of spaghetti sauce, oven ready lasagna noodles, mozzarella cheese, Parmesan, and a few spices, we now have a nice vegetarian lasagna to throw in the oven later tonight.  Using the tofu saved me from spending the time defrosting and cooking the meat.  I just crumbled it and threw it in with the cold sauce.  Done!

Are you up for the challenge?  Ready to try some tofu?