My 7 year old wants to be a vegetarian, I need some good recipes for tofu please!?!
Answers: The rest of my family eats chicken/poultry and fish, and I'd like some easy tofu ideas that i could cook and serve at dinner for my 7 year old that won't add too much extra work but are kid-friendly. He loves firm tofu when I fry it in olive oil and garlic with mushrooms, but that's bound to get boring after a while. I also frequently add tofu to soup (we eat a lot of homemade soup in the cold months), and I find vegetarian soups easy to make and delicious. But I need something to give him more variety, and since I am not vegetarian, I don't know what else I can do with tofu! Any recipes/suggestions are much appreciated! :)
I suggest getting a few vegetarian recipe book. Some recipes will be kid friendly, so just look through a bunch of books and take the one's that your son would like. There are also many recipes on line that you can use. Most meals can become vegetarian if you use a little creativity.
If you are not knowledgeable in vegetarian nutrition, there are also books that can help you balance your sons diet without meat(not as hard as some people make it out to be).
Is there a reason that you are only asking for tofu ideas? There are so many more foods than tofu that are healthy. His variety shouldn't come from different tofu dishes, but rather different meals with different foods.
Some good books:
Raising Vegetarian Children : A Guide to Good Health and Family Harmony
by Joanne Stepaniak (Author), Vesanto Melina
Better Than Peanut Butter & Jelly: Quick Vegetarian Meals Your Kids Will Love! Revised Edition
by Marty Mattare and Wendy Muldawer
Websites:
http://www.vrg.org/
http://www.pcrm.org/health/veginfo/veg_d...
http://www.vegsoc.org/info/childre1.html
Sweet and Sour Tofu
1. Ingredients
1. 1 (20 ounce) can pineapple chunks or tidbits, packed in juice
2. 3 tablespoons rice-wine vinegar
3. 2 tablespoons ketchup
4. 2 tablespoons reduced-sodium soy sauce
5. 1 tablespoon brown sugar
6. 1 (14 ounce) package extra-firm water-packed tofu, drained, rinsed and cut into 1/2-inch cubes
7. 2 teaspoons cornstarch
8. 2 tablespoons canola oil, divided
9. 2 tablespoons minced garlic
10. 1 tablespoon minced ginger
11. 1 large red bell pepper, cut into 1/2-by-2-inch strips
12. 1 large green bell pepper, cut into 1/2-by-2-inch strips
2. Cooking Directions
1. Drain and set aside pineapple, reserving 1/4 cup of the juice. Whisk the reserved pineapple juice, vinegar, ketchup, soy sauce and sugar in a medium bowl until smooth. Place tofu in a large bowl; toss with 3 tablespoons of the sauce. Let marinate for at least 5 minutes and up to 30 minutes.
2. Meanwhile, add cornstarch to the remaining sauce and whisk until smooth.
3. Heat 1 tablespoon oil in a large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. Transfer the tofu to the pan using a slotted spoon; whisk any remaining marinade into the bowl of reserved sauce. Cook the tofu, stirring every 1 to 2 minutes, until golden brown, 7 to 9 minutes total. Transfer to a plate.
4. Add the remaining oil to the pan and heat over medium heat. Add garlic and ginger and cook, stirring constantly, until fragrant, about 30 seconds. Add red and green peppers and cook, stirring often, until just tender, 2 to 3 minutes. Pour in the reserved sauce and cook, stirring, until thickened, about 30 seconds. Add the tofu and pineapple and cook, stirring gently, until heated through, about 2 minutes more.
WalMart has a section of veggie meats ( I eat this as well as tofu) the crumbles is great in tacos and chili and sloppy joes. I also use soft tofu and an envelope of onion dip mix in a blender for a great dip for veggies.
TOO YOUNG to make such a decision say no til he or she is older
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thats reallyyy cooll..but i honestly think that your kid should wait until theyre a little bit older because right now they need all the vitamins and protein and stuff that meat has....i don't even like red meat, but its true.
tofu is meant to be a condiment at best,not a main meal!!look it up.and it has really high levels of a form of OESTROGEN,so unless you want your boy a girl don't feed it to him.
for many years monks,in china, actually eat it to calm their desires .plus 85% of soy products are GMO-genetically modified...that enuogh there.
edit
the veggie ground beef is super high in MSG,which is proven to rot your brain.
seriously ...why are you letting your child near these products.
an adult can choose for himself ,but a 7 year old??he needs proper nutrion,some with more than a few years track record
edit
if you think i;m making this up you are truly IGNORANT,sorry but that is the only excuse.wonder why half of the kidz now days are screwed up.
You can buy vegetarian "meat balls", "chicken breasts", "chicken nuggets", and all sorts of other things! There's lots of choices out there, just shop around. Try looking at a health food store, or even your local supermarket.
My favourite recipe with firm tofu is "spicy tofu crisps".
Heat up a frying pan on medium high to high, and pour extra virgin olive oil in it - enough to cover it all, so it doesn't stick and the tofu fries up nicely. While the pan's heating up, cut the tofu into thin squares - the thinner the better (they get crispier then). Put the slices in the frying pan and add salt, a dash of pepper, chili powder, and cajun spices (add as much of the various spices as you want, I like it really spicy). Stir the tofu slices about, flipping them over, until they're almost burnt - it takes between five and ten minutes for me, usually. The key is the constant moving in the hot, spiced oil. If that still isn't crispy enough for your liking, you can bake them at 375F for a couple of minutes. Don't try it with "diet" firm tofu, though... trust me, it doesn't work! Oh, and try dipping them in hot sauce before eating... It's great!
Oh, and don't freak out about estrogen in tofu. Just make sure your kid has it in *moderation* - everything can be bad if you don't have it in moderation! You should also talk to your child's doctor about what vitamins and supplements your child should be taking. Your kid does NOT have to eat meat to be healthy! The only vitamin found solely in meat is B12 - and you can get that covered by a good multi vitamin or a multi B vitamin. :)
How about trying Quorn? Quorn has lots of products that would appeal to your child, including burgers, sausages, nuggets and mince.
hi there my son is also a veg n loves tofu too. so, when he gets bored i make tofu balls ie mashed tofu,cutup spring onions(optional) salt n pepper to taste and enough cornflour to bind so it won't break on frying.make balls n fry. u can fry french fries too n serve it wit sweet sour sauce
I make tofu wrap sandwiches. I slice the tofu and brown it in olive oil, add bbq sauce, grilled or sautee'd onions and green peppers with your fav cheese, mozzarella or vegan cheese if you are real picky.
We also make tofu stir fry with black bean garlic sauce that I buy at kroger.
Last week I made a tofu parmesan.I got that recipe on allrecipes.com It was called Tofu Parmigiana
mke hjim a smoothie with fruits and blend tofu instead of yogurt