THE NIBBLE BLOG: Products, Recipes & Trends In Specialty Foods


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PRODUCT: “Beefed Up” Tofu

Nasoya has created a new product for vegetarians, vegans and others on a no meat/low meat diet.

Tofu Plus is fortified to provide 20% of the daily value of five nutrients that others get from meat: vitamins B2, B6, B12, D2 and calcium.

Replacing three ounces of meat (the size of a medium hamburger) with three ounces of Tofu Plus avoids six grams of saturated fat and 53 milligrams of cholesterol.

Tofu in general is low in saturated fat, is sodium- and cholesterol-free and is a good source of iron and phosphorus. It contains 8g of protein per serving.

Tofu Plus is certified organic. The fortified tofu is available in Firm and Extra Firm textures. Extra Firm is better for grilling, baking or stir-fry; Firm is best for salads, crumbling and scrambling.

Try this GRILLED TOFU SALAD recipe from Nasoya (find more recipes at Nasoya.com):

 

Tofu Plus: the same tofu flavor and texture
fortified with the nutrition of meat. Photo
courtesy Nasoya.com.

Ingredients: Marinade & Dressing
• 1 tablespoon light soy sauce
• 3 tablespoons fresh cilantro
• 1/2 inch of grated fresh ginger
• 1 clove of minced fresh garlic
• 1 tablespoon rice vinegar
• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 2 tablespoons sesame oil

Ingredients: Salad
• 1 pkg Nasoya firm or extra firm tofu, cubed
• 1 bag spring mix or spinach
• 1/4 cup dried cranberries
• 1/4 cup walnuts
• 1 yellow bell pepper, thinly sliced
• 1 small red onion, thinly sliced

Preparation
1. Mix the marinade and dressing ingredients. Pour over the tofu and let sit for 15 minutes to 12 hours.

2. Grill the tofu on high, flipping once there are grill marks. This will improve the texture of the tofu, making it more similar to meat. You can also pan-fry the tofu in a stovetop skillet or bake it in the oven. Once the tofu is lightly browned, let it cool.

3. Toss the tofu and the remaining dressing into your salad and enjoy!

HOW TOFU IS MADE

Tofu is made from curding soymilk, much in the same way cheese is made from milk. First soybeans are ground with water and heated. The soymilk is separated from the solids, the hot soymilk is stirred and a coagulant (a natural firming agent) is added. The curds that form are poured into a forming box (a mold) and the whey is pressed out. The pressing action forms the curd into a solid block of tofu, which is also known as bean curd. Read all about tofu.

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TIP OF THE DAY: Know The Dirty Dozen & The Clean 15

This innocent-looking, low-calorie, fiber-
filled vegetable is #1 on the Dirty Dozen list.
Buy organic celery. Photo courtesy
BaldorFoods.com.

Can you name the most pesticide-laden fruits and vegetables?

If not, you’re probably ingesting more pesticide residue than you’d like.

The Environmental Working Group has found that people who eat five fruits and vegetables a day from the Dirty Dozen list (below) consume an average of 10 pesticides a day. Those who eat from the 15 least-contaminated conventionally grown fruits and vegetables ingest fewer than two pesticides daily.

These data are based on produce tested as it is typically eaten: washed or rinsed, peeled, etc., depending on the type of produce.

Rinsing reduces, but does not eliminate pesticides. Peeling helps, but valuable nutrients are often contained in the skin.

The best approach, recommends the EWG, is to eat a varied diet, scrub all produce and buy organic when possible.

The Dirty Dozen Fruits & Vegetables
Apples, bell peppers, blueberries, celery, cherries, grapes (imported), kale, nectarines, peaches, potatoes, spinach, strawberries. As your budget allows, buy organic varieties of this produce.

The Clean 15 Fruits & Vegetables
Asparagus, avocado, cabbage, cantaloupe, eggplant, grapefruit, kiwi, mangos, onions, pineapple, sweet corn, sweet peas, sweet potato, watermelon. Conventionally grown produce is A-OK.

Learn more at FoodNews.org. You can download a PDF version of the guide or the iPhone app.

 

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TOP PICK OF THE WEEK: Tony Boffa’s Famous Home Made Tomato Sauce

There’s lots of tomato sauce on the shelves, but look at the ingredients panel: Most of it is chock full of sugar/HFCS and salt.

Antonio Boffa emigrated from Italy after World War II, opened a restaurant in 1951 and made his sauces the old-fashioned way: with the best ingredients, bursting with flavor, without need for sugar and salt.

While son Tony joined the restaurant business, grandson Tom decided to take the family tradition in a new direction: marketing the family sauce at retail.

We taste a lot of sauces each year; few get to be Top Picks Of The Week. Tony Boffa is welcome in our home (and office) anytime. Retailers: Welcome him to your shelves!

There are currently four varieties:

• Marinara Sauce, the classic with basil and garlic.
• Meat Sauce, with lots of ground beef and pork sausage.
• Tomato Sauce, flavored with beef and pork fat.
• Vodka Sauce, done to creamy perfection and alas, given the higher calorie and fat count, our favorite.

Tony Boffa’s fine sauces elevate everyday
pasta. Photo by Trutenka | IST.

Six jars (the standard website order) makes a great Father’s Day gift.

Read the full review. It includes more than 30 ways to use these sauces beyond topping your pasta—although topping pasta is a great way to start.

Find more of our favorite sauces, pastas in recipes in our Gourmet Pasta section.

 

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RECIPE: Graduation Cookies

These cookies are too cool for school!
Photo © Land O Lakes.

Who wouldn’t want to take a bite of these diploma cookies—perfect to serve at a graduation party or to bring as a gift for the new graduate.

What’s especially nifty about these cookies is that they double as fortune cookies.

You can use the “default” set of fortunes provided in PDF format by the recipe’s creator, Land O Lakes; or you can make up your own with the graduate in mind.

Have lots of fun with this one!

See the recipe for “graduation cookies.”

Find more of our favorite cookies and cookie recipes.

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TIP OF THE DAY: Write Tips To Save Food

It’s shocking how much food we throw away because it goes bad in the fridge. Aside from wasting money, it’s just plain wasteful, given how many people go hungry.

One of our New Year’s resolutions was to stop wasting food. We looked at exactly what we were throwing out a week later, and figured out how to use it within a day or two. Here’s the plan we devised:

Cooked Vegetables: All leftover vegetables go into an omelet or scramble for the next day’s breakfast or dinner.

Proteins: Meat and fish leftovers too meager for a sandwich get added to the next day’s pasta or rice dish.

Salad: We only dress half of the salad. If anyone wants more salad, it’s easy to dress and serve. Dressed salad turns into a soggy mess overnight; but washed, undressed salad stays crisp in paper towels and a plastic bag.

Leftover scraps go into omelets, pasta or rice.
Photo courtesy Callisons.

Berries: Berries are very perishable; ours often rot before they’re finished. If you simply can’t finish them on breakfast cereal or as a snack, stick them in the freezer and use them in a smoothie or a puree.

Other Fresh Fruits & Vegetables: If they’re about to go bad and we don’t have the appetite to eat them, we slice and marinate them (use vinaigrette for veggies, liqueur for fruits) or quickly steam them. It buys another couple of days. Steamed fruit and veggies can be turned into purées or soup. Vegetables can be topped with sauce and grated cheese for a snack or side.

Bonus: Chicken carcasses, meat and fish bones get converted into stock. Though we’ve often made excuses for not making stock (no time top make it, no place to store it), we find that if we start the stock as we’re cleaning up from dinner, it “makes itself.” And we don’t store it because we plan to use it the next day.

Think of how you waste food and write down—then follow—your own tips to stop it. If you need ideas, let us know.

 

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