Today's recipe: Tofu braised in a slow cooker in soy sauce, toasted sesame oil and other Asian-style flavors. Low carb. Weight Watchers zero points for a snack, 2 points for a meal.
Regular readers know that I'm prone to exclaiming, "Isn't it pretty?" (See?!) No chance of that happening here, with these mud-brown cubes of tofu. Ugh, how UNappealing. I couldn't bear for them to ugly-up a beautiful green salad. I wanted to leave them in the refrigerator to develop fridge-fur, justifying a fast trip to the rubbish bin. And then -- These ugly-ugly cubes called to me. Closing my eyes, I nabbed one cube, then another straight from the tupperware. They tasted great! And that's how Ugly But Delicious Tofu become my between-meal, protein-packed pick-me-up all this week -- now that's an eye opener.
For portion control, I put aside three cubes measuring an ounce, otherwise I might have eaten the whole dish, all at once.
Note the Escali kitchen scale
pooh-poohed as an extravagant non-necessity for years, but which I now love-love-love and pull out at least once a day. And see the On/Off button on the left? It also sets the weight to zero, a very useful feature on food scales for two reasons. - To subtract the weight of the container -- Turn the scale on. Place an empty container on the scale. Press the On/Off button to zero the weight. Now add the food, which will be weighed all on its own.
- To accumulate ingredients, especially for baking -- Turn the scale on. Place a mixing bowl (or something similar) on the scale. Press the On/Off button to zero the weight. Add the first ingredient, say 50 ounces (or grams, very useful for baking with European metric-measured ingredients) of sugar. Press the On/Off button again. Add the second ingredient, say 200 grams of flour. And so on -- very easy!
UGLY BUT DELICIOUS TOFU for the SLOW COOKER
Hands-on time: 15 minutes
Time to table: 4 - 7 hours
Makes 16 ounces (I doubled the recipe for a large slow cooker)
Time to table: 4 - 7 hours
Makes 16 ounces (I doubled the recipe for a large slow cooker)
1 pound firm tofu
1/4 cup soy sauce
1 tablespoon fresh ginger
1 teaspoon garlic, minced
1 tablespoon maple syrup
1/2 tablespoon toasted sesame oil (don't skip this)
1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
1/2 teaspoon cracked pepper
DRAIN THE TOFU Place a layer of paper towels on a large plate, then the tofu block on top. Cover with another layer of paper towels. Place a heavy weight on top. Let drain for an hour. Peel off the paper and cut the tofu into 1-inch cubes.
SLOW COOKER Stir together remaining ingredients in the slow cooker. Add the tofu and gently toss until coated on all sides. Cover and cook on Low for 5 hours or on High for 3 hours.
NUTRITION ESTIMATE
Per Ounce (about 3 pieces): 33Cal; 2g Tot Fat; 0g Sat Fat; 0mg Cholesterol; 225mg Sodium; 2g Carb; 0g Fiber; 1g Sugar; 3g Protein; Weight Watchers 0 points
Per 4 ounces (about 12 pieces): 134Cal; 7g Tot Fat; 1g Sat Fat; 0mg Cholesterol; 903mg Sodium; 8g Carb; 1g Fiber; 4g Sugar; 11g Protein; Weight Watchers 2 points
TODAY'S RECIPE INSPIRATION
The Healthy Slow Cooker
by Judith Finlayson
Per Ounce (about 3 pieces): 33Cal; 2g Tot Fat; 0g Sat Fat; 0mg Cholesterol; 225mg Sodium; 2g Carb; 0g Fiber; 1g Sugar; 3g Protein; Weight Watchers 0 points
Per 4 ounces (about 12 pieces): 134Cal; 7g Tot Fat; 1g Sat Fat; 0mg Cholesterol; 903mg Sodium; 8g Carb; 1g Fiber; 4g Sugar; 11g Protein; Weight Watchers 2 points
TODAY'S RECIPE INSPIRATION
The Healthy Slow Cooker
by Judith Finlayson KITCHEN NOTES
I notice just now that the recipe specifies mixing the tofu cubes with the soy mixture in a separate bowl first, then refrigerating for an hour. I accidentally skipped this step but do think that it would help the soy cubes to soak up the liquid more evenly. I would use a ziplock bag, however, to be able turn it to redistribute the liquid more evenly. What I did to encourage this was to stir the cubes every so often while they were in the slow cooker, so that's an option too. MORE SLOW COOKER RECIPES
~ Slow Cooker Onion Soup ~
~ Creamy Slow Cooker Beans (no soaking) from Kitchen Parade ~
~ more slow cooker recipes from Kitchen Parade ~
~ more Weight Watchers recipes ~
~ more low-carb recipes ~
~ Slow Cooker Onion Soup ~
~ Creamy Slow Cooker Beans (no soaking) from Kitchen Parade ~
~ more slow cooker recipes from Kitchen Parade ~
~ more Weight Watchers recipes ~
~ more low-carb recipes ~
PRINT JUST A RECIPE! Now you can print a recipe without wasting ink and paper on the header and sidebar. Here's how.
NEVER MISS A RECIPE! For 'home delivery' of new recipes from A Veggie Venture, sign up here. Once you do, new recipes will be delivered, automatically, straight to your e-mail In Box.
Looking for healthy ways to cook vegetables? A Veggie Venture is home to hundreds of quick, easy and healthful vegetable recipes and the famous Alphabet of Vegetables. Healthy eaters will love the low carb recipes and the Weight Watchers recipes.
© Copyright 2009
Your Comments:
:)
I love digital kitchen scales. I started using them when I got into soapmaking 10 years ago and will never ever be without one in my kitchen if I can help it.
Cathy ~ That's a great description of the texture, thanks for the excellent variation.
Also thanks for the description of how to reset scale to zero. I need to know that!
As for the ugly tofu well, ain't nothing pretty about tofu to begin with (in my opinion) but it usually makes up for looks in taste. Can't wait to play with this.
Seashell
But I have weird, affectionate feelings towards my favorite foods.
I made the ugly tofu today, and it was wonderful!! I had half for lunch today, and I don't think the leftovers will last until dinner.
Thanks!
You are right; that tofu looks pretty funky. But then, doesn't just about all tofu look funky in some way? ;-) But those flavourings you have added make it sound like it it tastes anything but funky. Brava, once again.
Elizabeth
Links to this post:
Create a Link