I tried it for the first time tonight and it came out ok, I mixed flour, baking powder, salt and ginger w/ an egg and some water, battered the tofu and fried it. Then stir fried some veggies and added cooked top ramen noodles. I would put more ginger in next time, but was wondering does anybody cook w/ tofu and what is a good way to prepare it. I am trying to go vegetarian for dinner at least once a week and am struggling a bit. I have high cholesterol and could use to lose a bit of weight but I still need to be able to cook stuff the kids will eat.

By Hlgmom on Tuesday, July 12, 2005 - 01:33 pm:

Tofu is a great substitute in any asian dish- it acts like a sponge- so any flavor you put in it will soak up. You don't even need to batter it first. I often mix it up with pesto and use as a spread. If you go to epicurious.co and search vegetarian recipes you should find some good ones! Good Luck!

By Ginny~moderator on Wednesday, July 13, 2005 - 11:48 am:

My son has used soft tofu and treated it like scrambled eggs. He cuts hard tofu into slices for stirfry, or cubes it and drops it into miso soup or similar stuff. Heather is right - it will soak up the flavors of the other stuff and if you don't tell your kids, they may not notice. I've eaten it myself (though not often) and have no problem with the texture either. I've also eaten vegetarian lasagna where tofu was substituted for the hamburger, and other stuff where tofu was substituted for ground meat, and you really, really don't notice the difference.

By Ginny~moderator on Wednesday, July 13, 2005 - 11:51 am:

P.S. Seems to me batter-fried tofu is not the best way to deal with your high cholesterol issue - or frying in general, and I suspect you could do without the eggs. I say this very respectfully, out of concern for your health issues. Do try the vegetarian site Heather gave you - you are probably going to have to move into a very different style of menus and cooking if you are going to get on top of your health issues.

By Missmudd on Wednesday, July 13, 2005 - 01:31 pm:

Sigh i know.... lol. I didnt use alot of oil maybe a couple of tablespoons for the whole thing. I dont eat eggs regularly, only on weekend for special breakfast. Am trying to limit meat, making it more an ingredient than an end to itself. Unfortunately I am a carnivore, and switching is proving difficult. Am making sure I am trimming excess fat and all that too. DH is worse than I am which makes it more difficult to cook what people will eat.

By Eve on Wednesday, July 13, 2005 - 10:34 pm:

Try fying with avocado oil. It's a good choice if you are trying to lower your bad cholesterol. You can even make a batter out of whole wheat flour. Have you seen Christina Cooks on PBS. She cooks a lot with tofu.

By Feona on Thursday, July 14, 2005 - 06:53 am:

What about olive oil and canola oil? I thought those were good oils?

By Ginny~moderator on Thursday, July 14, 2005 - 09:56 am:

It's hard to give up meat. I know. Try giving up beef, as that is supposed to be the worst one for your health. Chicken, turkey, and seafood are a lot less of a problem in terms of fat and cholesterol, I believe.

By Colette on Thursday, July 14, 2005 - 10:43 am:

I cook with tofu and tempeh a lot. If you give me some ideas of the types of foods you like I can give you some meatless recipes. Ginny is right, if you are having trouble giving up meat, take baby steps. Make one vegetarian meal a week and cut out red meat. Or switch to a different type of red meat other than beef - like buffalo, it's much better for you and lower in cholesterol and fat. Tastes great too.

One really important thing is to read ingredients. I knew that high fructose corn syrup was bad for you but I just learned that it's really bad if you have high cholesterol. It is processed in your body differently - through your liver and it raises your triglyceride levels. Magazines like cooking light, organic style, vegetarian times, also can help get you started towards healthier eating.

By Missmudd on Thursday, July 14, 2005 - 12:36 pm:

Beef is my big problem, I LOVE IT... With each pregnancy I craved steak more and pork became more and more off the menu. I barely eat pork now, it has to be super lean and in something like stir fry or bbqd, and then I only eat maybe half a serving. I like all seafood but I have 2 of the 4 kids who wont touch it and 1 that would rather have something else. Which leaves me chicken which you can only prepare so often before you start growing feathers and clucking. So I am eating less beef, sigh, trying to keep it at 1 serving a week and trying new recipes to keep myself from going on a binge

By Jann on Thursday, July 14, 2005 - 05:24 pm:

Beef isn't the enemy. You can have lean cuts of beef that have the same amount of cholesterol/fat as chicken. If you buy ground beef, buy ground sirloin. If that is too pricey, just really rinse it well. There is much info out there that eggs aren't the cholesterol devil too.
Beans are a wonderful way to get protein and go meatless. My kids love bean soup.