Tofu has many varieties, and many uses, and you have to choose the one that best suits your recipe needs.
I love plant-based recipes. Love. So, whenever I can find one that’s both easy and cheap to create, I’m on it!
That said, I stumbled across the gem below—courtesy of a Greatist post—and I’m determined to give it a whirl sooner rather than later:
Tofu and Mushroom Miso Soup
The recipe is flexible – use whatever mushrooms and vegetables you have. The recipe has options for using Miso & Easy product or regular Miso Paste.
ingredients:
6 ounces tofu, cubed
4 ounces fresh mushrooms, sliced
handful of leafy vegetable, chopped
1 egg, whisked
2 tablespoons chopped green onion
***
If using Miso & Easy:
- 4 cup s water
- 4 tablespoons Miso & Easy
If using Miso Paste:
- 4 cups dashi or vegetable broth
- 4 tablespoons miso paste
directions:
1. In a sauce pot, bring the broth to a boil. Add in the tofu, mushrooms and the vegetables. While stirring the broth, slowly pour in the whisked egg. Cook for 2 minutes. Remove the pot from the heat.
2. If using Miso & Easy: Stir in the Miso & Easy. Top with green onions and serve immediately.
3. If using Miso Paste: Ladle about ½ cup of the hot broth into a bowl with the miso paste. Use a fork or whisk to stir and liquify and soften the miso paste. Pour all of the miso paste into the pot and stir gently. Top with green onions and serve immediately.
If you’ve never eaten tofu before, let me warn you, it’s an acquired taste, and not everyone will be able to deal with the texture or flavor of this very versatile ingredient.
That said, tofu is known to take on the unique flavor of whatever you’re cooking it with, so it’s quite easy to work with once you get past it’s surface level lack of charm.
I always opt for the ‘extra firm’ variety, as I tend to use tofu for stir fry, scrambles, and heavy saute’s; even so, there are many types of tofu available, and the main goal should be finding the one that best fits your needs.
The brand doesn’t really matter, but it may not hurt to invest in a tofu press (particularly if you cook with tofu often) or a cheese cloth to quickly rid yourself of the excess water in which it tends to be packaged (I usually wrap mine in paper towel, set a heavy cast iron pan on top of it for about 30-45 minutes, and then re-wrap with more paper towel before seasoning and sauteing).
Side note: stay away from pre-seasoned and pre-baked varieties of tofu as they tend to have more salt and preservatives.
It can be tough to season tofu to your liking, but if you choose to saute or fry it, you can always marinate it with soy sauce—or sprinkle nutritional yeast over it, if you like a cheesier taste—and then fry it alone, remove it from the pan and allow it to cool, and then add it back to the pan, alongside your veggies, near the end, without compromising its texture.
Anywho, as far as the above recipe is concerned, it’s definitely nice to start compiling some delicious soup recipes to get you through the cold months—which, believe it or not, will soon be here.
Living Fit Mommy 