[quote name='SpazX']I've gone much more vegetarian since my original post in this thread about a year ago, for about the same reasons as viva las vegas. I cut out beef and pork and have stuck to that pretty well, I've just had some poultry and seafood lately, but not much.
I've been trying to cook tofu well though. I seasoned it with taco seasoning to make some tacos, and it wasn't very good the first time, and a lot better the second time because I think I drained it better, but it still didn't seem to absorb the flavor as well as it sounds like it should (I've seen a million times about how well tofu absorbs flavors). I just ate at a Thai restaurant the other day and they cooked their tofu a hell of a lot better. So does anybody have any good tofu suggestions for getting it to absorb flavor well?[/QUOTE]
I'd figure I'd pop in here for some advice as well as comments. In terms of Tofu you have 4 main kinds: Silken, Soft, Firm and Extra Firm.
Silken is best used as either a thickener in a shake, smoothie or cut into pieces and cooked in a soup. Soft is a bit in the middle, between Silken and Firm. Best to use Soft cooked a bit on a pan a very short bit and serve on a Salad like the Nasoya pic of it on said package. For Firm cook it in the pan, stir fry or whatever. The same goes for Extra Firm.
When dealing with firm and extra firm one of, if not THE(thee), usual way(but don't quote me here) to do it I believe is to set it out on a plate then put a weight above it maybe for 30 minutes or longer. That's to get the water out because Tofu definitely has it.
Now that that's said don't restrict yourself as the media has done a good job of BRAINWASHING people that Tofu is the only meat substitute out there if you go Vegetarian or Vegan. That, quite frankly, is a load of horseshit. There's also Tempeh and Seitan. Tempeh is like a fermented Soy Cake with maybe some sesame or other ingredients. I think I read Indonesia is it's origin or it's commonly used around that area. It tends to be a bit more sturdy then Tofu in general.
As for Seitan it's Wheat Gluten cooked up. Don't worry! It's not as bad as it sounds. In fact if one managed to cook it down and get most, if not all, of the water out of it it would be pretty close if not spot on to the texture of Chicken.
As for what I am I'm a Vegan as Collector knows. I believe in eating Organic as much as possible as well as avoiding a decent amount of preservative crap that goes into processed foods. You wouldn't believe how much MSG is snuck into your favorite Vegan burger under names like "spices", "natural flavors", Yeast Extract, etc. It's not the full MSG as then it has to be listed but if it's only got Glutamate or two of the three components it doesn't have to be listed and can be hid under other terms. I'm not trying to discourage people from going Vegan or Vegetarian but be cautious and check your food labels.
Now as for Collector discussing one being more attentive to your food and paying more attention to what's in it I would most assuredly agree. I dare you ALL to go Vegan for a standard workweek and CHECK the food labels. Be diligent, making sure that what you eat IS Vegan. Look up words and so on. You'd be surprised how much CRAP is in your food you don't want REGARDLESS if you decide to go back to meat and dairy. I suspect you might cut out at least one or two if not MORE items in your diet in the process. For your reference look up Carmine. Also, and this is a giant one, just with how ambiguous it is, look up mono/diglycerides. Those can be either meat OR vegetable based. Take note on how much Oleorestrin is in products where it shouldn't be there as well as Modified Cornstarch. Trust me when I say you're going to get a big education here.
Now as for your food I bet most of you here don't eat that much of a variety of food in general unless you're cooks or Vegans or MAYBE Vegetarians. How many of you use Spelt Flour, make your own Sourdough Starter(I failed the first time I tried but I'll give it another shot), Barley Flour, Buckwheat Flour, Agave, Maple Syrup, etc.? Consider these variations are used to get some things ironed out to hash for a Vegan version and cooks LOVE using all sorts of different things, exploring all sorts of tastes that most people would never consider. I know I'm being presumptive here but most people, including myself more then I should now as a Vegan, don't like to go outside of their food comfort zone. I'm HOPING I'm going to start to open up more.
Those who wish to go Vegan let me throw out a few cookbook suggestions: Vegan With A Vengeance(this is especially in reference to the previous paragraph and trying new flours and so on as a Vegan), How It All Vegan(this is especially for the Homeopathic cure things as well) and "Vegan Cupcakes Rule the World"(I haven't tried this one yet but I recommend it because it's cupcakes, nuff said). As for websites check out
www.vegan-food.net/ . I make a Vegan Fudge and that's where I got the recipe from. Oh and to get you started Isa, author of "Vegan With A Vengeance", mentioned a faux scrambled eggs recipe when she was on the air on Sirius promoting her latest book. The ingredients are some Extra Firm Tofu(I use Nasoya), Black Salt(you'll find this in either Indian or Pakistani stores and it's colored PINK) and then Garbanzo Flour. I didn't hear the exact quantities but I probably take a 1/4 of the package or less and mash it up quick. Use maybe a tsp. or a bit more of the Black Salt. Throw it in and you will definitely smell a sulfurous smell like an egg. Then with the Garbanzo Flour you mix in and judge. After this just throw it on the stove and check on it once a while till done. I'm sorry I can't be more descriptive but I play this recipe by ear. Also in the "Vegan With A Vengeance" book she has a recipe called "Fauxstess Cupcakes" which I think most of you might be interested in checking out.
As for those arguing that Veganism isn't healthier then being a meat eat I would verily disagree. Consider the cholesterol content you're ingesting with all that Dairy for one as well as with the meat. This isn't good Cholesterol we're talking but bad Cholesterol. If you're a Vegan you've completely cut that out unless you get it in an incidental amount like me. You see I eat Dark Chocolate and almost all, if not ALL USDA Organic Dark Chocolate bars, are processed on equipment that deals with milk as well. I don't like it but it's incidental. I like my Chocolate too much, call me a hypocrite. I do avoid it in my Chocolate where I can. I buy Rapunzel's Cocoa Powder which is processed on equipment that deals with Soy.
Sad fact is, if you're a Chocolate fan and demand certified USDA Organic as well as are a Vegan, even the best brands I know of seem to be processed on shared equipment.
Anyway hopefully I gave a lot of people some informative information as well.