Locally
Owned
Health-Food Stores:
Turnip Truck
970 Woodland Street
Nashville, TN 37206
Produce Place
4000 Murphy Place Nashville, TN
37209 Phone: 615 383-2664
Country Life
Wholesale Food Co-Op
1917 Division st, Nashville,
TN 37203, (615) 327-3695
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Sunshine Grocery (closed)
3201 Belmont Blvd.
(UPDATE:
bought out and then CLOSED by Wild Oats,
this is a neighborhood tragedy. The Sunshine
was there for over 20 years.)
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Fresh
Local Produce:
Produce
Place
4000 Murphy Place
Nashville, TN 37209 Phone: 615 383-2664
The
Produce Place #2
7107
Hwy. 70 S.
Nashville, TN 37201
Phone: 615 662-1184
Metro Farmers Market
618 Jackson Street
Nashville, TN 37219
Contact: Jim Cupit
(615) 880-2001 |
 One
day I tasted Italian-baked tofu and thought I was eating my dad’s
broiled chicken. Honestly.
When I first tried tofu, I have to say I didn’t like it, basically
because of its gelatinous texture. It had little taste, and I maintain
that to this day. However, its texture can be changed by baking
and frying it, which removes most of its water and leaves it tougher
and chewier.
Tofu is a flavor chameleon, taking on the spices and herbs of whatever
it’s near. Tofu can have many different kinds of textures.
I can bet if you tried each of them, you wouldn’t even know
some were tofu. For example, when I serve lasagna, I mix ricotta
and Romano cheeses with tofu. I’ve added a major source of
protein to a pasta dish. No one ever knows.
It takes about five ounces of tofu to get twenty-one grams of protein
into your diet. This varies according to which tofu you choose.
That means you get three servings per sixteen ounce container. At
most Oriental grocery stores, you can find tofu from 50¢ to
$1.29 a container. Hinoichi brand, which is considered by most Asians
in my community to be top of the line, is only $1.29 at the Chinese
grocery. But most tofu is $1.89 or above at the local grocery. I
recommend it. Our local tofu maker is FarmSoy, and it is a wonderful
brand. Also, you can buy reduced fat tofu now.
Marinated Baked Tofu
If you want to use tofu in place of beef or chicken,
you may consider marinating and baking it. This recipe will provide
a chewy texture with a nutty flavor.
Simply cut tofu into 1/2 inch slices and marinate them in 1/2
cup soy sauce or 1/4 cup Bragg Liquid Aminos overnight. If you’re
in a hurry, an hour will do. In preparation for baking, take your
tofu slices and coat them with a thick layer of nutritional or
Brewers yeast.
Place on a cookie sheet sprayed with olive oil non-stick cooking
spray. Bake at 350° for 30-45 minutes. If you want to make
your slices thicker, bake at a lower temperature for a longer
period of time. The longer you bake it, the more it becomes like
jerky.
Concerned about yeast in your diet? Nutritional and Brewers yeast
will not grow in your body like the yeast in bread. It provides
trace minerals and vitamins rarely found in other foods and is
rich in protein, having 7 grams per tablespoon of Brewers and
4 grams per tablespoon for nutritional yeast. The difference between
the two: Brewers yeast is grown on beet molasses; nutritional
yeast is grown on cane and beet molasses.
I sometimes snack on cold, crispy baked tofu. It’s a wonderful
protein-enriched extra to keep in the refrigerator to add to almost
any of your favorite meals.
Remember: Add the proper amount of protein to your diet so your
food metabolizes efficiently.
Fried Tofu
Most people drain the water from tofu by placing
it in a colander or tofu strainer for an hour. Otherwise, you
can put slices between two small saucers and press them together
over a sink. I admit, most of the time, I use neither method.
Depending on how fat conscious you are, you can add olive oil
to a frying pan and preheat it on medium-high heat. Then, simply
fry chunks of tofu until they become golden brown.
If you want tofu to take on the texture of cooked chicken, cut
tofu into long, thin strips and fry it for approximately 20 minutes
on medium low heat, browning it slowly. Remember: The longer you
cook tofu, the chewier it becomes.
At this point, we have not flavored the fried tofu, so the taste
remains bland. These initial techniques help prepare tofu for
its texture, not flavor. The use of herbs comes next.
Scrambled Tofu
You can crumble tofu and use it like scrambled
eggs, cooking it gently until it becomes hot. We’ll make
one of my favorite scrambled tofu dishes called Tiger Food later
in the book.
Uncooked Tofu
I have only one recipe for uncooked tofu, but
it is excellent in place of egg salad and has almost the same
texture, but a more robust flavor. You’ll love it!
Soft Tofu
Soft
tofu is used mostly for desserts. I’ve used it in my manicotti
recipe, as well. It reminds me of gelatin and can be mixed with
fresh fruit.
Below are some wonderful facts about tofu:
- Tofu
contains high levels of protective plant-based chemicals shown
to be highly protective against cancer.
- It
specifically prevents breast and endometrial cancer in women
and prostate cancer in men.
- Tofu
also helps reduce cholesterol levels and subsequent heart disease
risk in both men and women.
To receive the maximum benefits from soy, adults should consume
about six to ten ounces of tofu daily, equivalent to one very
low-calorie meal.
- It
takes about five ounces of tofu to get twenty-one grams of protein
into your diet. This varies according to which tofu you choose.
That means you get three servings per sixteen-ounce container.
Recipe
for Italian Baked Tofu
Slice 16 ounces of tofu into slabs 1/8-1/4” thick (length
doesn’t matter) Remember that the thinner you slice it,
the tougher the tofu.
Marinate
overnight in:
1/4 cup Bragg Liquid Aminos or 1/4 cup salty soy sauce
1 teaspoon chopped garlic
1 teaspoon olive oil
1 teaspoon onion salt
2 tablespoons Balsamic vinegar
Mix
dry ingredients:
1/2 cup nutritional yeast
1/2 cup Italian seasoned bread crumbs
1 teaspoon garlic powder
1 teaspoon onion salt
1 teaspoon dried oregano
1 teaspoon dried basil
1 teaspoon dried parsley
1/2 teaspoon paprika
2 dashes cayenne pepper
Crushed melange of pepper (to taste)
1/2 teaspoon salt
Drain marinade
from tofu. Drizzle with 1/4 cup egg substitute (optional).
Thickly coat
tofu strips with the dry ingredients.
Bake on each
side for 1/2 hour at 400° or until coating becomes crispy.
Sometimes I coat the top of the tofu with olive oil cooking spray
and forget to turn them. Either way is fine.
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