My Vegan MoFo theme this year is “Go Vegan with JL…In the kitchen!” in which I reply to your questions about cooking in your vegan kitchen. (I explain a bit more about my theme and plan for my October posts here.)

Today’s issue:

“I don’t know how to make tofu!”

I was pretty intimated by tofu when I first went vegetarian, about ten years ago. In fact, I went vegetarian while in Kenya and called my husband, who did most of the cooking in our home at the time, to tell him about this big dietary change and that I needed him to figure out tofu.

Once I went vegan, and dedicated myself to becoming a solid, vegan home cook, I learned to love cooking with the flexible, chameleon-like bean curd filled with protein, calcium and iron. Here’s my laywoman’s take on preparing tofu.

Firm Tofu

First, you want to press the water out of the tofu. Most people wrap the tofu in towels, set it on a plate or cutting board, and place a heavy object on it, such as books or a heavy pan. I use a TofuXpress. Either way works, just press that water out of the tofu before using.

The tofu is pressed. Now what? Make a marinade! You can scour vegan cookbooks and websites/blogs for great marinade recipes but why not make something that tastes good to YOU? All you need to start is

a fat (olive or sesame oils)

an acid (vinegar or citrus juice)

spices

salt (I prefer Bragg’s Liquid Aminos, but sea salt, soy and tamari sauces are good, too)

garlic (not a must but I almost always use it)

Then you take it from there. I have tried things like miso with date syrup and pumpkin. Tuesday I made this: