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Mar8

My 13-Year-Old Self Ate Tofu

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Unlike sunflower seed butter, tofu was love at first taste. I still remember the first time I had it: I was 12 and at a the house of a family I babysat for often. They were great people and we became good friends. (We still keep in touch.) Dwight cooked tofu in a stirfry and since I loved and admired him and his wife, Tina, so much, I couldn’t wait to try it.

13aI think I as actually 11 in this picture, but you get the general idea. Just take that hair, chop it to my chin and that’s what I looked like during my first tofu tasting. Yes, even as a wee teen I liked dramatic hair changes.

I felt like Dwight & Tina were letting me into some secret club since tofu was the complete opposite of my elk and potatoes meals at home. I loved the tofu in that stirfry. And I drove my brothers crazy for the next few years as I went through vegetarian stages and made my mom buy tofu. Thanks for being supportive Mom. I know I was probably obnoxious. And I know I was really ungrateful that we had elk all the time…it’s an exotic food at fancy restaurants now.3.7-2_thumb[1]

I still love tofu, even without much added to it. It pairs well with everything since it takes on the flavors of whatever you pair it with, but I like it with just a little salt and pepper. I like Emily’s method for making crispy tofu and that’s how I rolled tonight.3.7-3_thumb[2]

With a side of spinach sautéed in olive oil with garlic and green onions, it was perfection. But the spicy brown beer mustard was not perfection. I just wasn’t feeling it tonight, so I ate my tofu sans dip. And I still loved it. Thanks, Dwight and Tina, for expanding my food horizons as a young impressionable teenager. You helped me fit right in with the food blogger crowd.

Tofu: yay or nay? Totally yay.

Mustard: yay or nay? It’s pretty hit and miss for me. Gotta be in the mood. And I like dijon way better than regular mustard.

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    41 responses to “My 13-Year-Old Self Ate Tofu”

    1. Ah, love the pic, you are so cute! I have had tofu once or twice in Pad Thai (spelling). It was ok, not great. I probably need to try it in/with other things to make a call on if I like it or not. I like mustard, yes, dijon is the way to go. Boar’s Head has a good line of mustard. I had a cranberry mustard once that was awesome!

    2. Definitely yay on tofu…though Tempeh is what really rocks my world.

      Id have to say mostly nay on the mustard. I REALLY have to be in the mood. I prefer Dijon or stone ground more so than the regular yellow stuff!

      Love that old pic of you! Gorgeous hair!

    3. The only times I’ve ever really had tofu is in Chinese/Thai food (fried rice, etc). I was a vegetarian for 12 years yet I had no idea what to do with tofu so I never made it.

    4. I love tofu, and I love any kind of mustard. I used to be scared of cooking my own tofu, but this year, I’ve completely fallen in love tofu, and I crave it all the time. I also utilize Emily’s method; it is so simple, yet delicious. I’ll have to try dipping my tofu in mustard though. I’ve never tried that before.

    5. Mustard…NAAAAAAAAAY!!!! 🙂 Tofu…YAAAAAAY!! SO funny. I just made tofu tonight and haven’t in a few weeks. I also love it, but just started eating it in the past year or so. I don’t like it out at restaurants though…it’s never cooked right! Chris actually loves it as well. I don’t think of it as a meat substitute but just a deeelicious food. haha

    6. I JUST came across Emily’s recipe and made it too. So good! I’m a huge tofu lover as well, I can eat it plain any day 🙂

    7. you look so purrrrty in that 11 yr. old picture! Same great smile 😀 tofu is pretty yay for me, I grew up eating it since I’m Korean. Perhaps you’d love tofu stew and soup a la crazy spicy Korean style! it’s called Soondooboo. (funny spelling) And mustard is a thousand-uple YAY for me. I can eat it with anything and everything.

    8. I remember the first time I tried “real” tofu. I say real because I think I tried that tofu in miso soup at sushi places and I never really liked it. I made GC’s tofu 2 years ago and fell in love. Tofu can be entirely different depending on how its prepared, so I try to tell people to give it another chance.

    9. I’ll be honest – I’ve never tried tofu, but it doesn’t look or sound appetizing to me at all. Maybe one of these days I’ll be brave and give it a try.

      I have to be in the mood for mustard & it can’t be a lot. It also has to be Dijon. There’s some Jack Daniels mustard that is pretty good.

    10. I went through a tofu loving stage but now I haven’t had it in months. I think all the soy controversy talk went to my head. I did just bookmark a tofu recipe this week, though! Mustard is good, ketchup is better.

    11. Love tofu. Hate Dijon mustard!!! Love yellow mustard 🙂 I don’t think I would ever dip my tofu into yellow mustard though…

    12. Love that picture of 11 year-old you!

      I don’t remember the 1st time I had tofu – but I certainly like it, now. And I don’t like plain yellow mustard, but dijon and spicy and whole grain mustards I LOVE.

    13. Tofu = totally yay!! I have hormonal problems though so I try not to eat it too much as it can add to imbalances, but I eat my fair share!

      Mustard = nay, for the most part. I’m a ketchup kind of girl.

    14. Aww what a cute young girl you were, look at that beaming smile!
      I don’t remember the firs time I tried tofu but it was definitely much later than you did. It’s for sure a yay though, tofu love. It’s super, especially baked but more often than not I eat it straight up raw. Dipped in MUSTARD and BBQ sauce. So mustard is a yay too 🙂

    15. I haven’t had a chance to try tofu and not even sure how I would make it or what my hubby would think of me if I tried!

      But I do like mustard…

    16. What a coincidence! I had a mustardy tofu dish tonight too:) Tofu is a TOTAL yay for me–it’s one of my favorite foods.

    17. I have never tried Tofu, but I will have to try to make some Tofu stir-fry because that sounds really good!
      As for Mustard, Yay:) I like all kinds: regular yellow mustard, spicy brown, dijon, or honey mustard!

    18. i’m learning to appreciate tofu. i like it thinnly sliced and sauteed until crispy and golden brown : )

      ps i’m compiling a cookbook of dinners that “star” veggies. would you be interested in contributing a recipe or two?

    19. Hi Teri, we have never had so much tofu as here in Asia. They use it in everything; stir-fries, curry soups, spring rolls, salads… It’s so great!
      I actually have to remind myself not to eat tofu every day, Luise tells me that it’s not good for men to eat tofu too often. It’s something about disturbing the hormone balance. Women however, can eat it all the time. Which I find unfair …

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