So what can I do with Tofu? - Tofu Recipe Thread

[judywoody]

I have found only a few slimming world recipes ideas for tofu...since it is a superfree food I think it deserves more recognition.
I personally like Chinese food (I mean proper Chinese food) but I get a little bored with soups (although I think they should get mentioned, too in this thread) and other Chinese tasting dishes. The only way I used to eat tofu so far was dry fried firm tofu until crispy and then added to some kind of (usually asian tasting) sauce...I also like it steamed with Korean sesame sauce but that adds quite a few syns due to the oil.
When I found the chocolate pudding recipe I was delighted!! That's here:
http://www.minimins.com/slimming-world-recipes/196612-chocolate-pudding-i-loved.html
So do you have any other ideas to make tofu taste nice?

 

[judywoody]

Oh what I forgot to say:

I know there is a debate about synning blended tofu. I'll quickly explain and I guess then it's up to everyone else whether they want to syn it or not.
First of all, there are different types of tofu: Silken (soft) tofu and firm tofu (and you can get tofu "in between"..medium firm etc.)

The puddings in the recipe section that are made with tofu are usually made with silken tofu - The whole purpose of silken tofu is to blend it. Firm tofu can be fried etc. but silken tofu is usually blended for drinks or puddings and stuff. It already falls apart anyway when you take a sharp look at it...:flirt2:

So it's not that you are doing anything with it that you are not supposed to be doing. However, some people mentioned that their consultants said that it HAS to be synned (and apparently it's quite a significant amount) since it has been blended..So a similar rule as the fruit and couscous story...Some people rang the syns hotline and they were told it's still free. So there is still a big confusion.

Also, the book doesn't say it needs to be synned when blended or cooked (but it says under the wholegrain section and the fruit section!!).

The things is, that wholegrains and fruit are quite high in calories already - and if you overconsume (which is easily done when used as a flour substitute or juice) you eat shed loads of calories. Also it doesn't fill you up the same way.

I think this is different with tofu - in fact, it is quite filling even when blended, it naturally has a lot less calories than grains or fruit and when you blend it it is usually still the same amount (whereas grains and fruit magically tend to shrink when blended or cooked), I personally find it hard to overconsume tofu, no matter in which form AND you have to blend the whole darn thing anyway - that's the whole point of silken tofu!!!

Maybe it's different with FIRM tofu since it contains more tofu than water (as in silken tofu) but we will never really know unless head office will release a statement.

Therefor I won't syn blended silken tofu (but I will still syn mashed banana...or I just don't mash it...I slice it and put it on my toast as it is )

However, I will leave it up to you since there is no definite answer.

And as the question arises every time someone opens a chocolate pudding thread:

You can find pre-packed silken tofu in ASDA or Tesco - I found mine in the world foods section (asian isle). The firm tofu is found in the chilled section nearby the Quorn.

But the cheapest and easiest way is your Chinese grocery store (usually every city has one - we have about 1 Million!!!).

If you have one in your town, just go to the chilled section and buy as much as you like - a lot cheaper than ASDA or Tesco.

Hope that helps!!

 

[judywoody]

Sorry to fill my own thread...haha .. (I tend to start talking to myself when I am bored )..I just found this recipe which is syn-free and sounds really nice! Maybe I would fry it in the pan to make it more crispy and serve with rice or just eat it as it is
Ragin' Cajun Tofu

 

[ermintrude]

Ah thats interesting as I was just thinking of making some tofu sausages and didn't know anything about synning/not-synning it if you blend it.

I've tried tofu plain on its own before and really didnt like it, but this is a recipe for vegetarian sausages I found in this month's BBC Good Food, looks yum: chestnuts, tofu, onion, sage, rosematry, cheddar, soy sauce, lemon juice, chilli powder, egg and breadcrumbs, it works out about 2.5 syns per sausage.

It asks for 'firm tofu, mashed', so it's better than whizzed I guess. The tofu I've got is this one, which it says is BITH 'silken' and 'firm'! :

 

[judywoody]

Wow, thanks ermintrude!!
Do you have a link to this recipe by any chance or can you tell me what exactly you do with the ingredients?

 

[ermintrude]

Yep here you go. Recipe makes 30 (!!!) sausages so good for freezing!

400g vacuum packed chestnuts (28.5 syns)
250g firm tofu, mashed
1 onion, grated
2 1/2 tsp sage, finely chopped
1tsp rosemary or thyme, finely chopped
125 strong cheddar, grated (27 syns if you use full fat cheese)
1 tbsp soy sauce
Juice of 1/2 a lemon
1/2 tsp chilli powder
1 egg, beaten
200g fresh breadcrumbs (21.5 syns)

- Whizz chestnuts in processor to fine crumbs
- Tip in a bowl with rest of ingredients (except breadcrumbs) and mix to combine
- Then add enough breadcrumbs to make a firm consistency
- Mould into 30 sausage shapes and freeze for at least 2 hours. (Best separated individually by baking parchment so they dont stick together)

It says they're best cooked straight from the freezer and to cook them in butter or olive oil for 5-7min until browned all over, but you could try Fry Light? I like to use half a healthy extra on a teaspoon or so of extra virgin olive oil though

I think that's a total of 77 syns for 30 sausages, so about 2.5 syns each. But as wholemeal bread (for breadcrumbs), cheese and chestnuts are all healthy extras I guess you could also have 2 sausages as a Healthy Extra?

 

[K Dee]

Chocolate Tofu thick sauce:
1 pkt firm tofu
4 tbls unsweetened cocoa powder
sweetener to your taste
put the whole lot in a blender a blitz (it's amazing)
I put it in my half a syn roulade with bananas and strawberries
You can also add almond flavour to the chocolate and have chocolate almond sauce, a batch usually last me around 3 days. It certainly hits the chocolate spot and I've lost one and an half stone so far.