If you are a vegetarian or just like the idea of making nutritious, meatless meals, using vegetable protein in your recipes has real merit.
Once you get the hang of substituting tofu for other ingredients, you can prepare a healthy meal for those family members that could lose some saturated fat and calories.
Some people think that tofu is boring. However, the flavor of tofu can change with the addition of some interesting ingredients, and we will show you some techniques to spice up your tofu.
1. Use cumin
Tofu goes great with cumin. It is a crucial ingredient in several world cuisines. Cumin has a unique flavor essential to Indian curries, where it’s often roasted before grinding to impart a nutty flavor. The aromatic, somewhat bitter taste of cumin is important to make good chili. Ground cumin can be used to enhance any earthy meal such as roasted root veggies or braised onions or cabbage, or use a scattering of freshly toasted seeds as a garnish on squash or carrot soups.
2. Spicy marinade
Did you know that tofu takes on the flavor of whatever it’s prepared with? That’s not always the case. In order to infuse it with flavor, you need to squeeze the water out of tofu and then soak it in a flavorful marinade. The tofu literally sucks up the flavor. You can literary add anything you like to make your spicy marinade.
3. Ricotta
Crumble up some tofu, and add your favorite spices and moisture—and you’ve got something that has the texture similar to ricotta cheese and actually tastes like it. Mix it into pasta and cover it with sauce; you probably won’t know the difference.
4. Tofu scramble
Tofu scrambles up to take on a texture that’s surprisingly similar to that of eggs. A bit of turmeric for color, along with black salt and nutritional yeast for savory and eggy flavor, and you might just have a new vegan ‘egg’ breakfast.
5. Make a chocolate mousse
We all know that chocolate makes everything taste better, and tofu is no exception. Add some chocolate and your favorite sweetener to a pack of silken tofu, and mix it up in the blender. You’ve got something that tastes magical and is surprisingly healthy.
6. Turmeric
Turmeric, essential to curry powder, belongs to the ginger family. It has orange color for which it is known throughout the world, along with light, musky flavor. Turmeric contains the compound curcumin, which has strong anti-inflammatory properties. It has been used for thousands of year in Asia. You can use it to make your tofu healthy and spicy.
7. Mix in some ginger
Ginger is very healthy and useful for baking, marinades, and sauces. In Chinese cuisine, ginger commands an almost mystical reverence, based foremost on its strong past in medicinal healing. The dried ginger can be stored indefinitely. When needed, just soak it for one hour to rehydrate, and use as if fresh. This rehydrated ginger can also be used to spice up your tofu.