Tofu Chili, any thoughts on how to make it?

some recipes online are rather bland so you vegans and vegetarians toss me a decent recipe..my Denver tofu is in the process of being frozen

The first time I tried to make something with tofu it was chili. I made the chili exactly as I've always made it - minus the meat. I took a soggy block of tofu and cut it up into bite sized chunks - then added them to the pot. When it was ready to eat I was highly disappointed and more than a little icked out. I'm not even that picky - but I couldn't FORCE myself to eat that crap. I tried for awhile, as I couldn't afford to waste food - but I ended up picking every piece of tofu out of that chili and chucking it in the trash can. :puke:

It was YEARS before I was brave enough to do tofu again. LOL

Anyway - I guess I do have some advice after all. DON'T do what I did.

I've done good things with it before too but anyway I've never been the greatest cook. I do better with tempeh

What they said here about the Morningstar Farms sounds great :9

Tofu's good, but I can't imagine it in chili. :puke:

That is SO wrong.

Use it like you would regular ground beef in your regular chili recipes. You can find it at practically any grocery store.

Or go here:

http://www.seeveggiesdifferently.com/product_detail.aspx?family=366&id=324

If it can just for the sake of making veg*n chili, there are a number of replacements rather than using plain tofu.

A friend of mine invented a dish he calls "Tofu Asada", which is something like Mexican carne asada, but made with tofu instead of steak. It is one of the greatest things I've ever eaten. I know that it involves marinating, lots of oil, and grinding and mixing spices... I asked him how to make it, and when he got to the bit where you seed peppers, roast the seeds, and then grind them up with a pestle and mortar that it was too complicated for me.

Still, I think this is a good idea, and this is how I would add tofu to chilli: Assuming that it's the firm/extra firm stuff, I'd press out the water (put a big block of tofu between two plates with a weight on the top - drain the water every 1/4 to 1/2 hour for a few hours). Then cut it into pieces of a size you'd like, but not too big of chunks. Marinate these pieces in a pastic bag/tupperware/other for a few days with some of the other things you'll be putting in the chilli (chilli powder, spices, brown sugar, salt, herbs - the longer the better - a few days, if you can) and a lot of some decent sort of oil. I would then make the chilli without the tofu in it, and saute the marinated tofu and add it quite late in the chilli making process. That way it will have a uniform flavour, the the tofu will remain quite firm and won't break up in the cooking.

Would that recipe actually work? Fuck if I know, but I do love me some tofu, and wouldn't purposefully lead you astray.

cover it with bread crumbs and saute' it.

When I use Tofu I like to cut it in slices and fry it with covered Parmesan cheese and italian spices. I always fry in olive oil just because that's all I ever buy.

Vegetarian Chili Recipe


Ingredients:
1-2 tablespoons olive oil
1 large onion diced
1 carrot washed and finely grated
3 cloves garlic, minced
1 green bell pepper diced
1 red bell pepper diced
1-2 celery stalks diced
4-6 tomatoes diced
1 tablespoon tomato paste
1-2 teaspoon chili powder
Small amount firm tofu cumbled (1/4 cake)
1 (19 ounce) can organic kidney beans with liquid
1/2 cup fresh corn (when in season)
1 teaspoon ground cumin
1 teaspoon cayenne pepper
1 teaspoons dried oregano
2 tablespoons fresh basil
3 teaspoons sea salt
1 tablespoon balsamic vinegar
1 finely chopped scallion for garnish
1/2-1 cup water

Preparation:

Heat oil in a large saucepan over medium heat. Saute onions and garlic until tender. Stir in green pepper, red pepper, celery, cayenne and chili powder. Add a little water and simmer for about 2-3 minutes.

Add the tomatoes, tomato paste and carrot and mix through.

Add the kidney beans and crumbled tofu. Add more water if desire.

Season with salt, cumin, oregano, and basil. Bring to a boil, and reduce heat to medium. Cover, and simmer for 20 minutes, stirring occasionally. Add the sweet corn and balsamic vinegar and mix gently.

Garnish with scallions.

Serve over steaming hot brown rice with a selection of lightly blanched vegetables and a side dish of pressed cucumber with brown rice vinegar.

Its taste and texture are all wrong for chili. Just plain beans work just fine for veggie chili. If you must use a meat substitute, try something like seitan, or quorn. There are lots of vegetarian chili recipes that will make you go "Yum!"

I was a vegetarian for years, and I still disliked tofu. The only people able make tofu dishes that I actually want to eat are the Thai.

It's bland. It's texture is all wrong. Either use a prepared faux meat, reconstitute some TVP (textured vegetable protein) granules or chunks, or just make a vegetable-based chili, use chunkier bell pepper and onion pieces, maybe some sliced white mushrooms, and don't bother with a faux meat.

If you want a "meaty" chili:
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=231&topic_id=497&mesg_id=1112
or
http://vegweb.com/index.php?PHPSESSID=16753782892e1df6c9dbf2db92ae3855&topic=10224.0

As LM suggested, I'd go with TVP over tofu for chili.

If you're bound and determined, though, you could try freezing the tofu first. Freezing will give it a different texture. Thaw, then crumble. Scramble it with a little oil, maybe some cumin and chipotle sauce.

I'm not really a chili person, though, so take my ideas with a grain of salt.

:rofl:

which is textured vegetable protein and has soy.

You soak it to reconstitute it first. In your large soup pot, sautée some onions in olive oil and add your TVP, and cook that for a bit. You'll want a decent amount of oil here, and I also usually add the chili powder, cayenne powder, diced fresh hot peppers (I usually use a variety from Habaneros on down), some of the tomatoes, cumin, and other spices at this point. Make the concentrate hot!



Let that chili concentrate cook for a bit, stirring occasionally, then later add your beans, more tomatoes and some tomato paste, peppers, and other stuff you want in it, and let that all cook down for a bit.



It's so good that my hardcore carnivore friends even love it.

:thumbsup:

Really. I'm a carnivore, but when I use TVP in stews and other hearty sauces, like spaghetti sauce, I really can't tell it's not hamburger.

and no one says it can be used in chile...oh well I'm a crappy cook so the first time I tried it I thought I just did it wrong

1: freeze the tofu for later. It makes better tofu too - just thaw it and press the water out when you want to use it.

2: use it in the chili anyway. I've made tofu chili - the trick is, crumble it and brown it with a bit of malt vinegar or vegetarian worchestishire (?) sauce something (for color), and really cook (slightly burn) it a bit so it stays a firmer texture in the chili. It can be done, it's just a bit harder to start with.