SoyMilk Crossroads

Making tofu is relatively easy and can save you a lot of money, but once in a while a batch of tofu just doesn’t come out the way you want it to. Usually, the problem is that it’s too watery and unable to hold together. It might be disappointing, but don’t just throw out that failed batch of tofu!
 

You can turn that too-soft tofu into a delicious dessert. It doesn’t exactly taste like the pudding you make from boxed mixes, but it is much healthier and dairy-free.

Ingredients

• One block of tofu
• 3 Tablespoons pure maple syrup
• 3 Tablespoons cocoa powder
• 3 Tablespoons soy milk
• 1/4 Teaspoon vanilla or almond extract

Directions

Drain tofu and lightly squeeze between paper towels to remove excess moisture. Put tofu and soy milk into blender and puree until tofu is smooth. Add maple syrup, cocoa powder, and flavoring. Puree again until the mixture is well blended.
 

Refrigerate the pudding, covered, until chilled. Serve with bananas, strawberries or graham crackers for a special protein-rich treat.

Commercial mayonnaise consist of at least 65% fat.  And of course, a variety of preservatives.  Those jars seem to last way too long in the frig.
 

Here is a basic tofu mayonnaise that contains no eggs and very little oil.  It’s ideal for use in low-calorie and low-fat diets.  Keep it refrigerated and use it within two days.

Ingredients:

• 6 ounces of tofu
• 1-1/2 to 2 Tbsp lemon juice or vinegar (or equal parts of each)
• 2 Tbsp oil
• 1/2 tsp salt or 2 tsp soy sauce
• dash of pepper

Combine all ingredients in a blender and puree until smooth.  Chill before serving.

Variations:  You have the basics, now for the variety of add-ons

• Onion - 1/4 cup chopped onion.  This is great with most fried tofu and most vegetable dishes.
• Dill & Garlic - 1/4 tsp dill and 1 glove minced garlic to replace the pepper.
• Pickle - chop up two small cucumber pickles and use over slided tomatoes.
• Celery & Onion - 3 Tbsp of each, diced.  Goes very well with squash dished.
• Mustard - 1 tsp hot mustard.  You’ll love this with fresh tomatoes, fried tofu or steamed broccoli
• Raisins - 2/3 cup raisins.  Cut back on half the salt.  Serve as a topping over apples or on Waldorf salads.

That should get you going.  Experiment.  Try a variety of herbs, too.

I love milkshakes.  Giving them up was out of the question.  Finding an alternative to dairy milk and ice cream was a must. 

Here’s one of my favorites:

• 6 ounces of tofu
• 3 small frozen bananas, or fresh with 3 ice cubes
• 1 Tbsp. honey
• 1/4 cup toasted wheat germ
• 1/4 tsp. nutmeg
• 1/4 cup cold soy milk

Combine all of the ingredients in a blender, blend until smooth.  Serve immediately!!
 

Note:  Want ice cream instead?  Don’t add the 1/4 cup of milk.  Enjoy!!

In almost every nutrient, Soymilk is richer than dairy milk.  The one exception is calcium.  Even though the calcium in cow’s milk is difficult to digest because cow’s milk is for cows after all, that one ingredient makes some folks hang onto dairy milk.

Sesame to the Rescue!

Sesame seed is the world’s richest source of calcium.  It contains over six times as much calcium by weight as dairy milk.  Soy and sesame have complementary proteins.  When the two are combined they result in an abundance of high quality protein.
 

This Sesame Soymilk Recipe will give you and your children a high quality calcium and protein drink, which is essential for growing children.

• 1 Cup soymilk (warm)
• 1 to 1-1/2 tsps honey or natural sugar
• 1-1/2 to 2 Tsp tahini or sesame butter
• Dash of salt

Combine ingredients and mix well in a blender and enjoy.

For the busy person, there are few beverages that are as easy to make that pack the punch and taste of a smoothie.

Love These Nutritious Drinks

Smoothies are nutritious on all fronts since fruits contain lots of vitamins and minerals, and soymilk is a great low-carb source of protein. In addition, using soymilk and/or soy yogurt in a fruit smoothie can help to lower your cholesterol.

Ingredients

• 2 cups soymilk
• 1 ripe banana
• 2 or 3 strawberries (if available)
•  ½ cup pineapple juice
• 1 small mango (or even less since the taste is strong)
• A pinch of cinnamon powder

Method

Combine all the fruits in a blender, add the soymilk and blend until you have a nice think, smooth drink.   Serve with ice if you wish, or you can use cold soymilk and serve right away.

 
Note: You can add any tropical fruit in season that you want. The quantity of fruits used depends on whether or not you want that fruit taste to dominate.  Also, you can opt to have a very, thick smoothie or one that is more liquid in texture depending on your preference.

Oh yes, I’m back with another Okara (soybean pulp) recipe.  I really want to hit home with these okara ideas because it’s a free by-product for those of you making your own soymilk. 
 

Okara is high in protein and so many people are just throwing it away, but it can be used in a multitude of recipes.

Ingredients:

• 1 1/2 Tbsp oil
• 1/4 cup diced carrot
• 2 onions or leeks, thinly sliced or diced
• 1/2 cup diced lotus root (optional)
• 2/3 cup okara, lightly roasted (Okara Flour)
• 2 cups cook brown rice
• 2 Tbsp soy sauce
• 2/3 tsp salt
• Minced parsley

Putting it together:

Heat a wok or skillet and add the oil.  Add the carrot and onion and saute until the onions are transparent.  If using lotus root, add and saute for another minute.  Add the rice, okara, soy sauce, and salt, mix together.  Cook for about 3 minutes more, be sure to stir constantly.  You want to heat it, not fry it.  When well heated, serve hot garnished with the parsley.
 

That’s the basic recipe.  I rarely follow recipes exactly, but we all like to have starting places.  I never have these exact amounts and I often chop up other veggies to saute and add to the mixture.  Try various peppers, broccoli or whatever vegetables you like for stir fry.
 

Have fun with it and increase your protein at the same time!

When you make soymilk there is a wonderful by-product called Okara.  It’s the bean pulp left in the milk screen. 

Soymilk By-Product

Most people that are new to making soymilk just throw this away.  But it contains about 17% of the protein of the soybeans that you started with to make your soymilk.  This is good stuff people are throwing away. 

Dry-Roast Okara and Use as a Flour

One of the great things you can do with okara is dry-roast it for other recipes.  Roasting okara is a necessary step to reduce the water content and give it a light fluffy texture.  Then you can add it to breads, muffins and even cookies to not only save on flour but to also give much lighter results to the baking.
 

To roast your okara, heat it in a skillet or wok.  Do not use oil.  You want it to dry.  Roast over a low heat and stir it constantly with a wooden spoon for about 3 minutes or until it looks light and dry but not browned.
 

 Drying okara also works well in the open.  Spread it out on a large baking ban.  Heat it for 5 to 10 minutes at 350 degrees.

A Great Addition to Baking 

By combining soy protein with that of grains, the okara can boost the total protein content by as much as 32 percent.  You can use it in muffins, waffles and with all yeasted breads.  Change your recipes to use 2 parts flour to 1 part packed okara.

Plain soy milk is great for making smoothies and using in baked goods, but sometimes you just want something different.
 

For a slightly sweeter “milk” that’s perfect for smoothies and all of your baked goodies, try making this brown rice and almond milk in your Soyabella Soymilk Maker.

Ingredients

1/2 cup almonds, shelled
1/2 cup long-grain brown rice
8 dried, unsulphered pitted dates

Instructions

Soak almonds and rice overnight. Drain and rinse, then run through your Soyabella machine like normal. When the cycle is complete, pour the milk into a clean container and add the dates. Let cool for about an hour, then pour into a blender and process until smooth.
 

This delicious milk is very thick and can be used in nearly any way you would use milk or cream. Try it hot with a splash of vanilla and a shake of cinnamon on top.

The hardest part of making tofu is making the soymilk.  And now even that is easy with a Soyabella Soymilk Maker.

1. Make the Soymilk

Just set the milk screen in the utility cup, pour in a measure cup of beans, add water and let soak overnight (6 to 8 hours).    The beans swell to 3 times their original size to make a rich milk. 
 

Lift the milk screen out and drain the water, attach it to the motor head, put water in the pot and lower the head assembly into the pot.  Push the milk button and in 15 minutes you have soymilk.

2. Filter the Soymilk

Pour the milk through some cheese cloth or a fine mesh metal coffee filter to filter out the okara (bean pulp).  I save the okara from this and the milk screen for other recipes.  You can use it very much like you would tofu.  Each pot gives you about 1/2 cup okara.

3.  Stir in the Coagulator

Pour the filtered soymilk into a bowl so that you can stir in the coagulator or tofu starter.  Prepare the coagulator by dissolving it into a small amount of water.  You may want to experiment with different types.  Here I’ve used 1 tsp of Magnesium Malate Powder in 1/2 cup water. 
 

Slowly pour the coagulate solution into the soymilk while stirring.  When you have half or more of the solution mixed in, stop pouring and wait a bit.  Add just a little at a time until the soymilk looks like a paste.  That’s it, stop, even if you have coagulator solution left over.

4.  Line the Tofu Mold

Dampen the cheesecloth that came with the Tofu Kit and line the tofu box.  Set the box on a dish or collecting surface.  There will be liquid forced out through the openings in the mold.

5.  Pour the Soymilk Mixture into Mold

Pour the tofu mixture into the lined mold.  This mold box seems very small when you look at the amount of mixture in the bowl.  But I assure you, it will fit.  This box has been sized for one pot of soymilk.  As you pour, liquid will start draining through the cheesecloth.  Give it a little time to settle and you’ll fill it all the way to the top.

6.  Cover Tofu with Cheesecloth

The cheesecloth with this kit is larger than it needs to be.  So when you fold it over to close the top, you may not want to fold all sides.  Too much cloth makes it difficult to fit the lid into the mold.  So I only fold over two of the sides and leave the rest hanging out.
 

Now it’s time to weight it down and put some pressure on the mixture to form the tofu.  So I stack my balancing act.  You can find what you have that works for you.

7.  Place Weight on Top of Tofu Press

I start with a can of soup and then stack a couple hand weights on top of that.  My pile makes about 4 pounds.  In 2 hours I have a soft to medium tofu block.   In 4 hours it’s getting closer to firm. 
 

The length of time this part takes is really dependent upon the amount of weight.  A block of tofu could be complete in half an hour if you could place 20 to 30 pounds on it.  So whatever rig you come up with, you’ll want to keep notes on your time schedules for soft, medium and firm tofu blocks.

8.  Remove, Unwrap, Enjoy!

And as you can see from the picture of this block of tofu, I didn’t take much time with my cheesecloth liner.  If you want a nice smooth looking block, you’ll want to make sure your cheesecloth is wet so you can smooth it out in the box before you start pouring in the tofu mixture.
 

That’s it.  A fresh block of tofu.  I was amazed at how much better it tasted than the store-bought.  If you aren’t going to use it right away, place it in a container surrounded with water.  Change the water each day until you use it and use it within seven days.  Or, of course, you can freeze it.

Here’s a great Sweet and Sour Recipe you can try from scratch and be a master of tofu in your own kitchen.  It’s not difficult and doesn’t take very long to throw together.

Ingredients

• 1 block extra firm tofu
• ¼ cup Flour
• Black pepper
• Pinch of salt
• 1 teaspoon Paprika
• 1 cup cooking oil (olive oil is my favorite)
• 1 small carrot sliced
• ¼ cup Sugar
• ¼ cup Vinegar
• ½ cup Ketchup
• 1 small onion 
• 1 small Green pepper                                                                                   
• A few slices of pineapple

Method

1. Dice tofu into bite size pieces
2. Roll gently in flour to lightly coat
3. Place frying pan on stove and get oil hot
4. Gently fry tofu pieces until lightly brown
5. Remove all pieces from pan when brown, and drain on paper towels
6. Remove oil from pan and put in mixture of vinegar, sugar, ketchup and water
7. Put in carrots and stir for a few minutes
8. Place tofu pieces into pan and cover
9. Stir gently for a few minutes to allow tofu to absorb some of the sauce
10. Add pineapple slices and green pepper, stir for another minute and remove from heat

The Sauce

• Mix sugar, ketchup and vinegar together
• Add paprika for color
• ½ cup water

Note: Use more vinegar or sugar depending on whether you want more sweet or sour.

Serve with brown rice or fried rice for a tasty dish.  Enjoy!
 

(photo source)