cooking tofu

[mama23boys]

since tofu is a high iron food, i thought that it would a good alternative (easier to eat) to meat.

so what kind do i buy and how do i cook it?? its for a 9month old

[beckers1111]

nuke it with cheese

fry it in oil with salt, garlic

or use silken tofu for smoothies blend it with applesauce or a banana

[mama23boys]

tks for the ideas!

i would add it to applesauce/bannanas BUT i cant feed him bc he gags.

Frying it or adding cheese is also out bc he hasnt had cheese yet.

Thank you for the sugestions!

can i just cube it up and give it to him that way??? or does it NEED to be heated up?

[Mom2Natalya]

With extra firm tofu- the best way to prep it is to thinly slice it (like 1/8 inch thick) and lay it out on paper towels to drain off excess water. Then sautee in a pan until brown, you can add it to any recipe, or sub it for chicken. It really takes on the flavor of whatever you're cooking with it.
Silken tofu is good in an egg-salad (crumble and mix with chopped eggs)
Silken tofu is also good in smoothies and desserts.

[ahisma]

You *can* eat it raw...it's an acquired "taste", but DD loves it raw. Don't try the silk tofu raw though, the texture doesn't work well that way.

One idea...blend it up with fruit to make a smoothie. If it's thick, just use a spoon instead of a straw. You can also slip some blackstrap molasses in the smoothie too...big help with iron!

[SJwith2girls]

My friends dd used to love it raw and cubed. I tried it several times with dd#1 and she would never go for it. With #2, I completely forgot to give it a try. (it is not something I buy often) #2 used to love cubed avocado......

[Sara]

you can eat it raw and cubed I like it that way ...I always seem to snack on it when I'm cutting it up for recipes.

It is great in smoothies. Great in stir fry's.

[momto2boysinOnt]

DS1 loved it cubed and raw. DS2 won't eat it unless it's cooked. I used to cube it and feed it raw to DS1 and fry DS2's portion in a little bit of olive oil. Now we eat it mostly in stir fries.

[kht2006]

cubed and raw is good and easy. Also, you can drain it and microwave it.
I like the smoked tofu raw. it is great. Karen

[babydogs3]

It tastes good in smoothies. It's also really good grilled (although it's to cold for that now). You could use it in puddings. Or use it in place of cottage or ricotta cheese in recipes. Personally I don't like it plain but it does take on the flavor of whatever you cook it with.
Also the books 366 ways to cook tofu and other meat alternatives and Horizons cookbook have a lot of great tofu recipes. Although I don't know how many would be appropriate for a baby. There are a lot of other tofu cookbooks available too, check your library.