Try Tofu Tonight

By Kristen Thorpe

Years ago, when I started eating healthier, my older sister remarked that next I would be serving Tofurkey for Thanksgiving. I laughed at the time, thinking how funny it was that my meat, potatoes and no vegetable sister thought eating fruit and salads more would mean I was taking the leap to eating Tofurkey for the holidays. Well here it is a few years later and I find shes not so far off the mark anymore.

I find myself eating less meat for a few reasons. The primary reason is that I just dont seem to enjoy the taste of it as much anymore. Another issue is heart health " the more I read the more I think that we eat far more meat than we need to and certainly more than is healthy for us. Finally, I really dont enjoy eating living creatures " would I do it if I had to go out and hunt it down? I wonder about that.

I confess I may never be a complete vegetarian. Somehow the thought of never having another juicy burger or chicken marsala is not possible to me right now. Right now I could see myself being what is often referred to as a near vegetarian. Those are people that eat a mostly vegetarian diet while occasionally still eating meat.

Of course one of the easiest foods to substitute for meat is tofu. I recently made some excellent tofu sausages in a sausage and pepper dish over a bed of basmati wild rice that was delicious. The texture of the sausage was a little different, but its a small price to pay for the relief of not wondering exactly what animal body parts I might be eating in the old days.

Not all vegetarians come to love that taste and texture of tofu. Theyll often substitute bean dishes and other food items to make up the protein in their diet. If you have never tasted tofu its certainly worth a try, it packs a good amount of low-fat protein that is very satisfying. Plus it absorbs flavors and spices very nicely making it a versatile food as well.

Another great tofu item is of course Tofurkey. I recently visited one of my local health food stores and found a great selection of Tofurkey. There were some pretty impressive choices and I decided to try the sliced Tofurkey for a sandwich meat. It was surprisingly delicious, and everyone in the family agreed.

If youre evaluating your diet and your health but have not tried tofu yet maybe its something worth checking out. You can start small, with something at your local supermarket or salad bar, like roasted sesame tofu over Asian noodles. Its a great way to get a sample taste at a small price.

Or you can try a package of Tofurkey like I did. You might be surprised at how tasty it is, especially with whole grain bread, tomato slices, and mustard. Delicious! The best thing about tofu is that you get an excellent amount of healthy protein without all of the saturated fats you get when you eat meat.

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