Wednesday, June 16, 2010
Apparently you CAN use tofu for everything
Tofu is the ultimate vegan food. It does EVERYTHING. It's a meat substitute. It's a dairy substitute. It's whatever you dream it to be.
And I hate it.
I have made tofu scramble which is basically the vegan version of scrambled eggs except it tends to have more spices and awesomeness in it. My family loves tofu scramble for breakfast. It's become a Sunday morning tradition. Unless I'm too fucking lazy to make anything in which case we have oatmeal.
I don't mind using tofu as a thickener in sauces either. It added some depth and extra protein to pesto sauce (protein FTW!) and as vegans we are always looking for ways to get the most nutrients from our meals.
HOWEVER. Grilling "strips" of tofu does not even come close to resembling fajita meat. Pretending that it does only means that you are INSANE. It crumbles. It's squishy. It is NOT meat.
Will I go back to eating meat? No. But I will not pretend that tofu is meat.
If I need "meat" for a recipe I will use those rad Gardein or Tofurkey "meats." They did the work so that I don't have to and even though they are crazy expensive the convenience can't be beat.
But there is one recipe from my pre-vegan days that I haven't veganized yet. It's sacred to me because it was my favorite dish that my mother made when I was growing up and when Jacob and I began living together it was one of the few dishes I actually cooked in our tiny kitchen.
Chicken Taco Casserole.
Some of you may call it King Ranch Chicken but that's technically not the same thing. AT ALL.
Chicken Taco Casserole, or CTC as we call it, is the most amazing and tasty dish in the known universe. It's versatile and comforting and reminds me of the happy times in my childhood. It is also totally un-vegan.
First you have the chicken. That can easily be swapped for chick'n or you can simply leave it out and add more vegetables. No big deal. I don't miss the chicken. But the tricky part is the heart of CTC - CREAM OF MUSHROOM SOUP. One can (or two if you're feeling saucy) makes all the difference in the world. You can't leave it out, either. It is totally noticeable and will ruin the casserole. My mother did that once and I honestly can't remember much after that. Yeah, it's that traumatizing.
After Googling for recipes to add to my repetoire I started thinking about good ol' CTC but stopped short because I knew it would never happen.
But wait..... A Google search for "vegan substitute for cream of mushroom soup" led me to a happy place. A place where my favorite childhood recipes lived on but in a cruelty-free world. And guess what the search led me to?
Mother fucking tofu.
That soggy wet brick was going to play a major part in bringing joy back to my tummy.
I guess tofu isn't so bad after all. Unless you eat it by itself. Then it's fucking nasty.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
DEALS!
BUY AD SPACE!
SUBSCRIBE
Posts
Comments
INBOX LOVIN'
ARCHIVES
-
►
2011
(21)
-
►
January
(17)
- Is this what you do with your spare time?
- Longing.
- Blah blah running blah blah blah.
- Real men don't puke.*
- Head trauma
- A break. But not really.
- Imma run my ass off.
- I'm a saucy broad
- The fumes are a bonus.
- Everybody poops.
- Take a trip up the river!
- New socks.
- If you love me you'll do the following:
- A day in the life
- This is why wives kill their husbands.
- I resolve to rock your face off.
- Fuck yeah, twenty-eleven!
-
►
January
(17)
GRAB IT
MY OTHER GIGS
WHO?
- Lauren
- I'm a native Texan who doesn't eat meat. My husband is tall and my daughter is cute. I am loud but I'm shy. I write because I HAVE to write. I love heavy metal and wanted to name my kid "Metallica" but my husband vetoed it.
I LOVE YOU
CON WHORE
11 comments:
Good Luck.
Tofu... ah tofu. I know what you mean about it being a soggy mess. You have to drain it and use something heavy to smoosh all of the liquid out.
Have you tried morning star sausages? I LOVE them. My anti-veg hubby loves them. I hate sausage because its greasy and nasty, but those are so darn good I could eat them every day. (Also soy-rizo! Its sooo good and flavorful.)
@leaner unfortunately MS sausage isn't vegan :( I loved them as a vegetarian! So I totally agree with how good they are.
@Lauren I usually slice the tofu super thin, sandwich the pieces between paper towel and smoooosh all the liquid out. Then I fry or broil them so they are crisp :)
I have a block of tofu in my fridge right now..waiting to find the perfect recipe for it but nothing sounds good.
You have to be careful with those fake meat patties..they have tons of salt and unknown fillers in them. I bough some fake hamburgers and they were soooo not healthy!
When I was veggie I loved using tempeh strips for fajitas. Mmmm.
I find that TVP is a good fajita steak replacement and seitan of the right consistency could probably work well, but usually I just use lots of veggies, add some sauces (guacamole!!!), and forget there ever was anything like meat to replace.
I hated tofu for years...it was always being made into something that it wasn't.
Then I waitressed at a Japanese restaurant run by Koreans. They put tofu in everything - fried it, used it in stir frys, made tofu soups, etc.
They looked at it, said, "That's tofu", and whatever they made with it they called "tofu whatever."
Started loving tofu when it started being itself. :)
Fave tofu dish: Tahu Toge (tofu & bean sprouts)
1 block firm tofu
veggie stock (okay, I use chicken stock, but whatever)
1 bag bean sprouts
shredded carrot
hot sauce
Make the stock, throw everything in and heat until it's all hot all the way through. Serve over rice.
Freaking awesome. :)
I LOVE tofu. So yummy. I just don't know how to cook with it or I would use it in every dish. Good thing my man is a Chef! xo
I will twitter you this, but try Seitan. Just like meat, seriously. Texture and everything. I have made seitan stroganoff and made fajitas with it. Look in the fridge department at Whole Foods next to the other fake meats.
It can be a good thing or a horrid thing depending on how it's cooked!
Dude, I for the most part, can not get down with just straight up tofu. My tastebuds are not in love with it. VEG LIFE!
Post a Comment