I didn’t grow up eating tofu.

In rural northwest Ohio, I was a meat & potatoes kind of girl. Our meals were very simple, and the main event was animal protein.

And don’t get me wrong. I love a good steak on the grill. But with my tendency to high cholesterol and all the research supporting plant-based living for longevity, these days I pair a much smaller piece of steak with the main event of vegetables. And what’s not to love about a ton of sautéed greens and fingerling potatoes roasted with olive oil and rosemary?!

When I started eating more plant-based a few years ago, I realized that I didn’t really know how to make tofu taste good. I have since learned many tricks!

Why choose tofu?

Tofu is an Omega3 and calcium-rich complete protein, meaning that it has all of the essential amino acids our bodies needs. It’s made from soy beans and has a mild taste capable of picking up any flavor, making it super versatile. It’s important to buy organic soy products so that they aren’t genetically modified and exposed to harmful pesticides.

Will soy products give me breast cancer or man-boobs?

No fear, my friends. If you buy whole, organic soy in the form of tofu, tempeh, soy nuts, soy milk, miso and edamame, it has the right ratio of soy isoflavones genistein : daidzein, which won’t increase your risk of breast cancer or give you “man boobs.” In fact, a huge systematic review (i.e. our strongest medical evidence) shows a decreased risk of recurrence in breast cancer survivors if they included a modest amount of whole soy in their diets – and these were women with hormone positive (ER+/PR+) breast cancer receiving anastrozole. Hooray!!

Hot flashes be gone!

Another large systematic review and meta-analysis of 19 trials showed a modest amount of whole organic soy each week significantly reduce frequency of hot flashes by 20.6% compared to placebo.

Soy is Heart healthy

And, if that isn’t enough, there’s convincing evidence of soy isoflavones reducing both the bad LDL cholesterol and trigylcerides, and increasing good HDL cholesterol. Amazing!

How much soy can I eat?

You can confidently have an average of ½ cup of whole organic soy per day. I eat this myself and feed it to my little boys and husband too!

Making tofu taste good

1. Choose the right tofu. Choose extra firm for sautéing and use in stews and curries or as a meat alternative (tofu when crumbled has a texture very similar to ground beef or turkey!). Use silken tofu in desserts and smoothies.

2. Get the water out. Pressing firm tofu is the key to enhancing it’s capacity to pick up other flavors while cooking. You can find a fancy tofu press on Amazon, or you can use my homespun method: paper towels wrapped around the block of tofu with a heavy cast-iron pan weighted on top. (Repeat the wrapping with paper towels until the tofu is almost dry and more compact.)

3. Season it correctly. Tofu doesn’t taste like much on its own – it needs to absorb flavor from cooking. That’s where this recipe comes in!

A few other tips:

· Try coconut aminos instead of soy sauce – it’s a delicious substitution

· Not sure how to cook with nutritional yeast? See my other plant based pesto recipe.

Serves 4

Ingredients

1 block organic extra firm tofu

1 Tbsp Bragg’s amino acids

1 Tbsp nutritional yeast

1 Tbsp avocado oil, coconut oil, or extra virgin olive oil

Directions

1. Press the water out of the block of tofu over the course of a few hours. (See above for various methods.) Cut dried tofu into ½-1” cubes.

2. Heat pan on stovetop over medium heat. Add oil when pan is adequately heated. Add tofu and allow to brown on multiple sides (generally about 3-5 minutes per side).

3. Remove from heat. Pour amino acids on tofu and sprinkle with nutritional yeast. Mix until thoroughly coated. Serve warm over salad or alongside your favorite vegetable sides. Delicious as a leftover!