experimenting with tofu

Just recently, I wrote this post about my interest in the vegetarian lifestyle. Although I have a hard time seeing myself becoming a "full fledged" vegetarian, there are many aspects about the lifestyle, the diet, and the motivation behind it that I find hard to ignore.

One thing that has peaked my interest is tofu. Never before had I eaten it. And...even though I had not eaten it...I possessed a mindset that said, "tofu is diguisting." Why would I think that without having tried it? Well, for the same reason you might believe that Jesus was a white man, that Ford builds better trucks that Chevy, or that Nike basketball shoes are actually worth spending $100.00 on ... ignorance, someone told you so you just believed it, preconceived notions, advertising, etc.

Sunday was a new day for me. After church, Erin, Eli and I went to lunch at Taste of Thai with friends from church. I ordered the "Rainbow Chicken" meal - but substituted with tofu, and ordered it at the number 3 spicy level (on a scale of 1-5). On Sunday evening, I marinated some tofu at home in soy sauce & honey, chopped up fresh peppers, zucchini, and carrots, and made a tofu stir-fry along with some white rice.

Here, now, after much reading, research, and actually EATING it, is what I can informatively say about tofu.

It's inexpensive. I bought a 16oz package for $2.00. It's full of protein and very low in calories, carbs, and fat. It is practically a "flavor sponge". It has almost no flavor on its own, but totally soaks up whatever flavors you marinate or cook it in. It has a little bit of a spongy texture, but that can be firmed up by freezing the tofu for a day or two, then thawing it before cooking. This is what I'm going to do next week. It's supposed to firm up the texture even more, to where it feels more like a meat substitute. It's incredibly easy to stir-fry it. It's already fully cooked when you buy it, so you only have to cook it for 3-5 minutes, just to heat it through and allow the flavor to really cook in well. You can marinate it in practically anything. It doesn't really taste good or bad. It's sort of like eating mushrooms on a pizza. You notice them in your mouth when you're chewing them, but they don't really add or take away any flavor from the pizza itself.

Say what you will. Call me a hippy. I can handle it. But the truth is, we all have notions about things that have no foundation in anything real whatsoever. I've finally overcome that notion with tofu. Now it's on to asparagus. I've never eaten asparagus, but I still think it's gross. Although it does make an awfully cute Veggie Tales character.