A Guide to Tofu

So if you've never used tofu it can seem a bit daunting. If you've tasted tofu and not liked it, you haven't had it made well. Tofu can be use in literally a thousand different recipes and is extremely versatile. Essentially it's soy bean curd and comes in different forms ranging from very soft (silken) to hard (extra firm). You can also buy tofu that is already grilled or fried, a lot of options in your local Asian market. The great thing about tofu is that it really doesn't have a taste so it takes on whatever taste you throw at it. Soy gets a bad wrap because of studies that were done involving hormonal cancers. Those studies were done on people taking supplements that contained very concentrated doses of soy, far more than you could eat in a day. Asian countries have almost no instances of cancers. Also all soy made in the USA is non-GMO. The GMO stuff is feed to livestock...so as a vegan it's nothing you need to worry about!
Lets get started!

Silken Tofu

Soft or Silken tofu is used for making desserts, smoothies, soups and as an egg substitute. You will find a multitude of recipes online but here are just a few;

Spicy Scrambled Eggs

"Lobster" Bisque

French Toast

Medium Firm Tofu

Medium firm is great for when you want a bit spongy and a bit firm and need it to soak up the flavour while retaining it's shape. So for things like stir fries, soups or curries this is great. Also medium has more give and bend than firm tofu so is more rubbery and less likely to crumble. this makes it perfect for cheese substitutes in terms of texture.

NOTE: Anything that is medium and harder needs to be pressed. To press your tofu, drain it well and place of a few layers of paper towels on a plate plate or chopping board. Add another few layers of paper towel on the top of the tofu covering with a flat board or plate. Then press by adding a heavy item to the top, a large jar etc. Then wait 10 minutes.

Thai Yellow/Red Curry

Black Pepper Tofu with Coconut Rice

Palak "Paneer"

Vegan Halloumi Cheese

Firm & Extra Firm Tofu

Honestly I'm not too sure on the difference between all the firm varieties except for preference. Firm and Extra Firm will do the same job in terms of keep shape and sometimes the super firm is too firm for me. Firm tofu is the one I find myself using the most. It keeps its shape beautifully and therefore is easy to sear and bake. It's great for quiche, stir fries, faux meats and scrambles! 

Tofu actually takes on a completely different texture when it's been frozen and then defrosted. Kind of a spongy texture so great for soups and curries but not as great for firm needs.

Tofu Turkey

Quiche & Frittata

Pad Thai

Generals Tso's Tofu (Fried Tofu)

Teriyaki Tofu (great for sushi rolls!)

Spicy Smoky Tofu Jerky

Marinated Tofu is also awesome for your choice of bowls...

A Guide to Bowls

This bowl has tempeh instead of tofu. 

Tempeh is made from soy beans also but has not been as heavily processed and is slightly fermented. It has a more distinct flavour than tofu but is considered a healthier option. Try steaming your tempeh before use for a more neutral flavour.

Orange Glazed Tempeh

You can buy already baked tofu which is rubbery and great for certain recipes such as Pad Thai or Japanese Carrot & Tofu Dish.

Japanese Carrot & Tofu Dish

You can also buy puffy fried tofu from the Asian supermarket...fantastic for curries, stir fries and soups because it soaks up all the flavours!

Panang Curry

Cashew Chilli Jam Stir Fry

You can also buy soy bean skins or curd to use in many Asian recipes such as my favourite - Tofu Skin Rolls found at Dim Sum/Yum Cha;

A typical Inari Sushi is made of sushi rice wrapped inside the seasoned deep-fried tofu pockets called “Inari Age” which you can get at an Asian market. These sushi boats have a sweet taste.

So there you are! A multitude of options when dealing with tofu. Here are some more tofu & tempeh recipes!

Just have fun with it and enjoy the possibilities!

Snack Balls

Who doesn't love a good snack ball?! They freeze and defrost easy, fill you up and you can make them as healthy or not as you please! Here's some of my favourites...

Cherry Ripe Bliss Balls

Salty Peanut Butter Balls

Date & Nut Balls

Chocolate Hazelnut Balls

Coconut Almond Balls

Chocolate Almond Apricot Balls

Date Balls

For a more savory snack or appetizer...

Risotto Balls

For naughty Xmas time balls;

Santa's Chocolate Salty Balls

Rum Balls

Salty Caramel Peanut Balls

Salty Peanut Caramel Balls

Ingredients

2.5 cups medool dates, chopped as finely as possible
2 cups Peanuts
1 tsp salt
1/3 cup Shredded Coconut


Method

Mix all dates, peanuts and salt in a food processor until well combined.
Take 1-2 tablespoons of mixture and roll into a ball.
Roll ball in shredded coconut and place on parchment paper lined tray.
Refrigerate or freeze.

General Tso's Tofu

This seems to be a favourite among my kids when we eat out, even thought I'm sure it's not at all traditionally Chinese. I thought I'd try making it myself and it was so easy and tasted pretty good. Kind of a sweet and sour sauce with soy sauce mixed in. Adapted from original recipe on Dinner Then Dessert.

General Tso's Tofu

Ingredients

12 oz of faux chicken or tofu, cut into cubes or strips
1/4 cup cornstarch
oil for frying

1 tablespoon minced ginger
1/2 teaspoon red chili flakes
2 cloves garlic , minced

For the Sauce:*
3 tablespoons rice vinegar
3 tablespoons soy sauce
2 teaspoons hoisin sauce
1/4 cup water
3 tablespoons sugar
1 tablespoon cornstarch


Method

Toss the tofu/faux chicken with the cornstarch in a ziplock bag and shake to combine (or you can do it individually in a bowl).
Heat the oil, enough to shallow/deep fry to medium-high.
For the sauce add the rice vinegar, soy sauce, hoisin sauce, water, sugar and tablespoon of cornstarch in a small bowl and whisk together.
Add the tofu/faux chicken to a pan with the oil and fry until golden.
Remove tofu/faux chicken from the pan and  place on paper towels to catch excess oil.
Drain all but a tablespoon of the oil and add the chili flakes, ginger and garlic.
Cook until you smell the garlic (about 30 seconds).
Add in the tofu/faux chicken and toss, then add in the sauce.
Stir for about 30 seconds until thickened.
Serve immediately.

*You can make the sauce in advance in a small saucepan, bringing to bowl and then simmering, stirring/whisking constantly until thickens.

Almond Butter Sauces

Yes not one, but three different sauces using almond butter! I frequently find almond butter on sale because it's about to expire, and this is a great way to use large amounts!

Almond Butter Dressing
From In It 4 The Long Run

¼ Cup of Almond Butter
1 Tablespoon of tahini
¼ Cup of Olive Oil
2 Tablespoon of warm water*
Salt and pepper to taste
*For a thinner texture, add more water

Whisk ingredients together

Creamy Garlic Almond Butter Sauce
Adapted from Imma Eat That

1 1/2 cup vegetable or vegan chicken stock
1/2 cup almond butter
1 tablespoon vegan Worcestershire sauce
1 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder

Heat in a saucepan over a medium heat whisking until frothy and creamy.

Sesame Almond Butter Sauce
From My Sequined Life

1/4 cup creamy almond butter
1/4 cup soy sauce
2 1/2 tbsp hoisin sauce
1 1/2 tsp sriracha/sambal olak, to taste
2 tsp sesame oil
1/2 tsp minced garlic
1/8 - 1/4 tsp five-spice powder, to taste
1/4 tsp ground ginger
Sesame seeds, for serving

Whisk ingredients together

Mushroom Shepherd's Pie

Someone sent me this Tasty video so I thought I'd give it a try! It was pretty good but didn't taste like Shepherd's Pie, more like potato with mushroom gravy.

Mushroom Shepherd's Pie

Ingredients

For filling;
4 potatoes, chopped
2 Tbls vegetable oil
3 carrots, sliced
3 celery sticks, sliced
1/2 onion, chopped
2 cups mushrooms, sliced
4 garlic cloves, crushed
1 Tbls tomato paste
1 Tbls GF flour
1 tsp fresh sage, chopped finely
1 tsp fresh thyme, chopped finely
2 cups vegetable stock
2-4 Tbls red wine (optional)

For mashed potato;
2 cups non-dairy milk
2 Tbls vegan butter
salt & pepper to taste


Method

Boil potatoes in enough water to cover them and put aside once cooked through.
To a large frying pan add carrots, celery & onion to a pan and saute in oil till soft.
Add in mushrooms and garlic until soft.
Season with salt and pepper to taste.
Add tomato paste and mix through.
Add flour and stir through.
Add sage & fresh thyme and mix well.
Add vegetable stock slowly, then a splash of red wine and simmer until thickend.
For potatoes, drain and add non-dairy milk, vegan butter and mash, season with salt & pepper to taste.
Pour the mushroom mix to an oven safe dish and spread evenly.
Top with mash potato and spread out.
Spray with a little cooking oil and broil for 10-15 mins until brown.

Cherry Ripe Bliss Balls

These are named after a candy bar we have back in Australia that I think they taste like! SO GOOD!

Cherry Ripe Bliss Balls

Ingredients

3 cups Dates, chopped
1 cup Cashews, crushed
1/2 cup Cocoa
1/4 cup Dried Cranberries, Cherries or Blueberries (or a combination)
1/4 cup shredded Coconut (unsweetened) + extra for coating


Method

Blitz everything except the coconut coating in a food processor. This mixture gets very thick that's why it's easier to do the pre-chopping!
Take around 2 tablespoons of mixture and roll into a ball, coating in the coconut.
Place balls in the fridge for 20 minutes to harden and enjoy :)

Vegan Products - January 2018

It's been a while since my last product review so hopefully I haven't repeated any of these!

Maple Holistics make some amazing and simple natural skin products. I'm loving this Vitamin C Anti-Aging Serum right after I cleanse my face and before I put on face cream. It's so firming and refreshing.

From Solomon's Ventures, discount store I got the following items...

Wildbrine Probiotic Salsa Verde - this wasn't bad but just tasted like sauerkraut, not salsa verde.

I found these Australian brand Freedom Foods Crafted Blends bars and I really liked them, especially the maca, chickpea and raisin. My toddler kept stealing them from me!

Got these BeechNut Organic pouches for the baby and they were surprisingly good! I always test the squeeze food before giving it to him just to make sure.

These Kind Pineapple Banana and Kale bars were very simple and raw, like Lara bars but tasty and toddler loved them so one for the win!

This Kaoka Dark Orange Chocolate was delicious!!!

I didn't really like these Vegan Rob's Wild Rice Chips but I try not to judge anything too harshly that has come from the discount store, they may have been stale of not stored properly.

I loved these Blue Moose of Boulder hummus and corn chips to go. The kids loved them in their school lunches too as something a bit different. Both are separately sealed too so you can split them up.

I wasn't crazy about these Jackson's Honest Barbeque chips but I honestly think it was the coconut oil flavor. the barbeque flavor was good.

I love these Dang sticky-rice chips, sriracha flavor. Not too spicy and great with beer!!

I didn't love these Coconut Secret Almond Coconut Bars and in fact the toddler was the only family member who didn't mind them. They were very coconut oily. The way I used to find Lindt balls too buttery I felt the same texture here.

I thought this Vegan Rob's Sweet & Salty Popcorn was really good but it got mixed reviews from the kids.

These Hippeas Sriracha Sunrise puffs are amazing. They were so good even a little stale that I went back to buy a bunch more. Toddler loved them too so obviously not very spicy. I've only ever seen them at Starbucks before this time.

I've had Simple Mills crackers before and have found them a bit bready but these Sun-Dried Tomato & Basil ones were pretty great with vegan cheese!

I didn't like these Made in Nature Coconut Chips. I think it was just the flavor, Ginger Masala Chai was just not a good combination.

Publix finds...

I got these Sprout organic snacks for toddler on recommendation from another mother and we loved the Curlz but the crispy chews not so much :(

I liked both but I think he thought the texture of the chews was weird and he doesn't do well with tart tastes.

Bolthouse Farms pea based plant milk is our new family favorite. Toddler loves it, hubby loves it and I love it. It tastes like regular milk. Similar to Ripple in taste (and price) but with out the after taste of Ripple.

Trader Joe's Finds...

Everyday Seasoning is fast becoming my go to for vegetables especially potatoes and avocado!

Quite baking soda-ry but I really like this toothpaste.

Their coconut aminos has less aminos than the leading brand but is half the price and still tastes great. Love it to marinate tofu!

I really liked the Hi-Protein Veggie Burger but toddler sadly did not. He still favours Gardein over everything else.

Found at Winn Dixie...

Winn Dixie just started selling the vegan Bold cheese pizzas which I was super excited about and noticed they had quite a bit of vegan/GF stuff in their allergy section...

I love that these Lucy's Chocolate Chip Cookies are in individual packs because it makes me feel guilty to have to open a second pack (3 in each). They were the crunchy kind which I really like too but they had a baking soda flavour to them that I wasn't so keen on.

Also at Winn-Dixie I bought this FreshJax Grill Master burger seasoning. I liked the seasoning itself but I used it in their own black bean burger recipe and was not a fan of those.

I got this Theo Cranberry Orange dark chocolate from Lucky's Market because it was $1. It was actually alright, i'm a sucker for orange dark chocolate!

If you have not used any L'Occitane products then do yourself a favour and try some. Even if it's just their 20% Shea butter hand cream. The quality of products from this French skin care line is undeniable and most products are vegan. only animal products used are beeswax and honey which are easily identified in the ingredients list.

I'm in looooorve with the Almande range, especially this Almond Shower Oil. My hubby loves the Shea shower oil. Not at all oily as you might imagine, it lathers on like shower gel and rinses of with no oily residue on you or the shower, leaving you feeling very moisturised!

I love L'Occitane face masks. The Rebalancing Face Mask is a lovely beauty spa like clay mask and the Pivoine Sublime is a range of one use (realistically 2-3 uses) flash masks. There's a 3 minute, 5 minute and over night mask. I love the over night one!

Now that my hair is starting to grow out it's gett hard to manage and I realised as my curl is coming back that I need a mousse! Pureology hair products are all vegan and I've discovered the two mousses they have to offer...

Both hold my hair around the same but I think I prefer this Clean Volume one.

Just in time for Xmas I discovered Bailey's new vegan Almond milk version of the classic! I really liked it but you can taste the almond milk quite strongly.