Tofu is a blank slate for flavors and preparations, but the slightly gelatinous soy product also tends to inspire blankness in the mind of even creative chefs. Stir-frys aside, it can be difficult to figure out how to prepare it if you are not experienced with it. Fortunately, books like This Can't Be Tofu!: 75 Recipes to Cook Something You Never Thought You Would--and Love Every Bite are out there to hold your hand through the basic properties and varied preparations of the high-protein, vegetarian favorite. The book is written by Deborah Madison, who is well known for her other vegetarian books and the accessibly way in which she presents recipes for home chefs.
It starts out with an introduction to the types of tofu and basic things that you can do with it, as well as some instructions for draining, pressing and other prep that may need to be done before using the tofu in a recipe. The recipes themselves, which cover every meal from breakfast through to dessert, are creative and most are quick and simple. With 75 recipes to choose from, one is sure to be appealing, like Scrambled Tofu with Herbs and Cheese, Red Cabbage Salad with Peppered Tofu Crisps, Ice Coffee Frappe and Red Pepper and Miso Soup with Tofu and Black Sesame.
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
1-12-2007 @ 1:41PM
2m8ohed said...
I like Deborah Madison's recipes in general, but I've always been a little put off by the title of this book. It seems to imply that tofu itself is a bad thing, and it's a wonderful surprise if something seems *unlike* tofu. I'm aware of the bad rap tofu has gotten in the U.S. over the past couple decades (see e.g. the posts and comments about "Tofurkey" back in November!), but having grown up on Taiwanese, Chinese, and Japanese food with lots of yummy tofu preparations, I've never tasted a delicious tofu dish and thought, "Hey, this is good... this can't be tofu!" When I tell my sons (ages 3 and 6) we're having tofu for dinner, they actually say stuff like, "Yesss! Tofu tonight!" How about that for a cookbook title? :)
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1-12-2007 @ 3:31PM
Laura said...
Ironically, I just bought this book a couple weeks ago and I can second the recommendation. The title isn't really indicative of the contents -- although there are a lots of recipes in here that hide the tofu or make it into something else, there are plenty that celebrate it. Its a great all-around cookbook.
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1-12-2007 @ 5:45PM
Jason said...
Tofu! Yuk! :-P
Never touch the stuff. I've been reading a lot about soy products lately and I'm even more convinced that I'll never touch the stuff.
http://wnd.com/news/article.asp?ARTICLE_ID=53675
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1-13-2007 @ 12:36AM
Anjali said...
I agree, the need to disguise tofu or promote it as a healthy-but-unappealing alternative to meat bothers me. I was never a fan of tofu until I moved to Japan and starting eating dishes that prepared tofu as tofu, not as a low-fat version of something else. The same goes for soymilk -- I love the stuff here because it actually tastes like soy, not oversweetened, vanilla-laden fake milk.
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1-13-2007 @ 8:07PM
Heather said...
I don't have any opinion on the whether or not the book vilifies tofu. However, I can say that I've been waiting for a recommendation on a cookbook like this one. I have been trying to eat primarily vegetarian for several months now and find, in general, vegetarian recipes lack protein, unless they contain legumes or nuts. So, it's nice to have the recipes all together which do contain soy protein.
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