VeganMofo Day 23: Tofu 101

This is Day 22 of Vegan Mofo, a month of vegan food blog posts, and this post is an introduction to tofu. Since I am not a food blogger, most of my posts for Vegan Mofo will not be recipes, rather experiences I have with vegan food and sharing people, places and things that have brought me and continue to bring me amazing vegan food.

Tofu. Just mentioning tofu can get a negative reaction. I've heard just about all of the bad things that could be possibly brought up about tofu: terrible texture, no flavor, it's just gross, soy is bad for you, etc.

I love tofu.

Blackened is my favorite. Blackened tofu sandwiches are just about my favorite food.

In trying to eat as diverse a diet as possible, I don't eat tofu or soy everyday. That is more about diversity with my food choices than anything else.

Tofu is a great source of protein and can be a main dish or part of a delicious side dish. It can even be used for scrumptious desserts.

One thing to remember about tofu is that it doesn't really have a flavor; it takes on the flavor of whatever you put on it or marinate with it. When I blacken tofu for my sandwiches, plain, flavorless tofu all of sudden becomes filled with flavor because of the blackening spices I use to cook it. The same thing with barbecue tofu; it's all in the sauce. When I make tofu scramble, it's always more flavorful the next day because the tofu has had more time to absorb all of the spices used in the scramble.

Texture is easy. I mainly use extra firm tofu. If I want it more dense I freeze it.

If you want to try tofu without preparing it at home, check out food reviews of a local Thai or Chinese for tofu dishes and go try one. In Denver, Little Ollies serves a mean tofu, especially with their General Tao's tofu. This dish is not on the menu but they will make it for you.

Tofu can be as good and as delicious as you want it to be. Grab a recipe that uses tofu form one of the food blogs on our blog page. Try it. There is an amazing tofu dish for everyone!

Thanks for reading!
vegandude@msn.com

Our first giveaway! Make soymilk (nutmilk) and tofu at home!

Back in November I was at the Southern Plains Land Trust annual fundraiser emceeing the event and had time to do some shopping at their silent auction (a little too much shopping some might say). I kept bidding on the Soyajoy G3 Soymilk Maker and by the end of the night it was mine. The folks who make it had generously donated it to SPLT for the auction and I thought it would make a great Christmas gift for Mike.

Score! Mike loves it. And we soon purchased the tofu maker so that we (Mike) can now make fresh soymilk AND fresh tofu at any time. We can also make hemp milk, almond milk, macadamia nut milk, etc. You get the idea. I wanted to bring that up for those of you who do not consume soy. The maker is versatile and has totally changed our lives. Fresh, home made tofu tastes so much better and we keep thinking of all of the packaging from tofu and soymilk containers that we no longer use!

If, like me (Dan) you might be thinking that you would not be able to make your own soymilk or tofu even with this machine, don't worry at all! It is super easy and you will love it!

Because of how much we LOVE this product, and because we have never done a giveaway on our blog, we thought this would be the perfect fit.

The better news is now there is a Soyajoy G4 Soymilk Maker and this is what the winner will receive.  And don't worry, we wouldn't give away a soymilk maker without giving you something to use it with. So we asked our friends at Laura Soy Beans to offer a 20-pound bag of non-GMO soy beans and they immediately said yes! The folks at Laura Soy Beans have been amazingly friendly and kind to us as we began the adventure of making our own soy milk. http://laurasoybeans.com/

The giveaway also includes the added tofu maker, which we love.

No need to go to any website or sign up anywhere. To be included in the drawing all we ask is that you send us the name of your state representative. That is the person who represents you in the state capitol where you live. This will not surprise our regular readers as we write often about engaging these very same people. If you do not know who represents you in your state capitol please click here and you can find out: http://votesmart.org/ Depending on where you live, you might need to enter your nine-digit zip code to get the list of who represents you. We ask for the name of this person not so we can contact them but so you will know who they are! NOTE: In Canada it would be your MLA, Member of the Legislative Assembly.

Remember, it's your state representative we're looking for. We will check the names we draw to make sure the person you sent us is correct. And of course if you need help searching we will help.

We are also giving away four copies of the cookbook that changed my feelings on baking and one I use all the time, "The Joy of Vegan Baking" by Colleen Patrick-Goudreau.

Are you ready? Please send the name of your state representative via Twitter, our Facebook page, as a comment here or emailed to vegandude@msn.com

We will take entries trough Friday, March 15th at noon Mountain Standard Time.

Thanks for reading!