Iron Chef America showed a tofu battle last night. I really wish you could get recipes from that show since it goes by so fast that you can only get the roughest idea of what goes into each dish and how it is prepared. There was so much on there that I would like to try.
I’m going to admit my deep dark vegetarian secret. I don’t really like tofu. I love it blended up in a creamy sauce but that’s the limit of my enjoyment. When I’ve had it in chunks it grosses me out. The problem is the texture. It is slimy and gooey and for all its supposed ability to taste like everything it never tastes like anything to me. I’ve only ever had it in restaurants. I’ve never been tempted to make it at home since I have no faith in it. That’s why I want to try what they made on Iron Chef. Maybe it would be better. I’d definately skip the tofu blended with crab guts, though.
I’m still trying to be more diligent with my diet. Last night for dinner I had spaghetti squash. I think working with squash is tough. I microwaved it a bit to soften the skin and then sliced it in half longways. Then I covered it with plastic wrap (which I’m sure is deadly) and microwaved it over a plate of water. My problem comes then with getting the flesh out of the squash. I’m always in a hurry and so the squash is super hot to hold onto.
I wilted some spinach in a bit of veggie broth and mixed the greens with the squash. Then I added some spaghetti sauce and olives and corn and peppers. It was a lovely vegan meal that I de-veganzed by topping it with a bit of goat cheese.
For breakfast this morning I finally tried something I’ve been reading about all over – steel cut oats. I keep reading about how superior they are to other oatmeals. But they take 25-30 minutes to cook. Are they worth the time? I put 1.75 cups of soymilk on to boil. I bought the soymilk to make vegan ice cream. I’m not a fan so I decided to get rid of it by using it here. After it boiled I added 1/3 cup plus 2 tablespoons of the steel cut oats and reduced the heat to low. And then I waited. And waited. I was starving. I stirred some and tasted it and it was pretty nasty. I cooked it for 35 minutes before the soymilk was mostly absorbed and the oats weren’t hard. Then I sprinkled some brown sugar Splenda over it and added maple syrup and raisins.
Was it worth it? It turned out pretty good. I was surprised. The oats are a lot nuttier and chewier than instant oatmeal. The soymilk mellowed out enough that the taste didn’t bother me. I wouldn’t make it every day but as long as you aren’t in a hurry and can do other things while waiting for breakfast it would be a good choice.
I also used the oats in veggie burgers earlier. I was making a mix of black beans with steamed peppers and carrots. I added wheat germ and the steel cut oats until the texture was right. Then I baked them for about 15 minutes at 450. They freeze well and after they are microwaved there is no problem with the oats not being cooked.
I do not like tofu or any of the meat substitutes…blech.
I do, however, make a yummy (yes…yummy) steelcut oatmeal dish with lots of dried fruits in my rice cooker…I have one of those fany-dancy ones that have a timer. I put everything in, set the timer for 6:30 am & go to bed. In the morning I’m all set.
There are recipes all over the internet (although I think I just adapted Alton Brown’s…)
It took me a really looooooooong time to learn to like tofu. Like yourself, it was the texture that turned me off, although I thought it was more like straphome than slimey. Once I worked it into my diet it became a staple because of the protein content.
But be careful with soy products. Most soy has some synthetic and/or natural estrogen so it can do wacky things to your reproductive system.