Melbourne Holistic Health Group

Published in Recipes - Tofu and Tempeh on 09 October 2011 by Melbourne Holistic Health Group

An Introduction to Tofu Recipes

by Ruth Trickey

One of the main principles of a healthy diet is to eat a major proportion of food derived from plant sources. Grains, fruits and vegetables are all plant-based foods, but are relatively low in protein, while soy, on the other hand, is a plant-based food with one of the highest levels of protein which uniquely, also has the full complement of amino acids.

One way to achieve our daily protein requirements is to combine an animal protein with vegetable proteins. Many cultures do this as a normal part of their diet. So for example, in Asian cooking a combination of soy based (vegetable) protein with fish, chicken or meat is common. In Middle Eastern and southern Mediterranean cuisine, meat, fish, chicken, egg or dairy foods are often combined with legumes in dishes like casseroles or bakes. While this is often done to reduce cost of meals, it has several other advantages including addressing protein requirements while providing the health benefits of higher fibre, lower overall fat, especially saturated fat, and higher antioxidant levels attained from plant foods. In keeping with these principles, you will notice that some of the tofu recipes contain an animal protein whilst others have only soy-based protein.

Alternatively, vegetarians can maximise their protein requirements and obtain the full complement of amino acids by combining grains, legumes, seeds or nuts in specific ways. All vegetarian cuisines follow these simple principles, and if you can’t remember these rules, it will help to jog your memory if you think about the various types of recipes that are derived from countries around the world. Using soy in these combinations has the potential to provide the highest protein levels and using more than two combinations increases protein intake even more. Non-vegan vegetarians can improve protein levels even more by adding some dairy or egg:

Beans/legumes and grains

• Japanese: soy protein – tofu or miso with buckwheat or rice
• Chinese: soy protein – silken, firm or dried tofu with rice
• Indonesian: soy protein – tempeh with rice
• Mexican: red kidney beans with tortilla or other corn based bread
• Middle Eastern: chickpeas and cous cous or bread

Beans/legumes and seeds

• Japanese: soy protein – tofu or miso with sesame
• Middle Eastern: chickpeas and tahini

Grains and nuts

• Chinese: rice with cashew nuts or almonds
• Australian: bread with nut butters

We hope you try at least some of these recipes and come to enjoy using tofu in your cooking. 

 

Tofu Recipes

Apple and Blueberry Tofu  Muffins	Cashew Curry	Chilli Tofu Stir Fry with Beef, Chicken or Egg
Lemony Chickpeas with Tofu	Orange Pan-glazed Tempeh	Pesto Quinoa & Tofu
Phytoestrogen Breakfast Loaf	Simple Braised Tofu	Spaghetti with Beef and Tofu Bolognaise
Spicy Tempeh with Asian Slaw	Vegetable, Tofu and Miso Soup with Egg 'Ribbons'	Tofu Chocolate Mousse  by Lauren Burns
Roasted Pumpkin Tofu Curry	Tofu Scramble	Tofu Turmeric Stir Fry
Cherry Tomato, Lentil, & Tofu Salad

Other articles on soy:

• Types of soy products 
• Are soy foods safe? What does the research say?
• Can soy help hot flushes?
• How can soy help prevent cardiovascular disease?