I was 13 when I became vegetarian and didn't change my diet besides cutting out the meat. I stayed away from "vegetarian" items partly because I wasn't a shopper at that point, and partly because I didn't care. My older sister went vegetarian before I did and was at the age where she started experimenting with food beyond boxed mac and cheese.
One day my mom took us to the local "health food store." This was before whole foods became huge or you could buy soy milk at your local store. This health food store was about the size of a convient store and was packed to the brim with all sorts of faux meats. My sister picked up some tofu, because that's what vegetarians eat, right? I don't remember what I bought that first trip but I do remember fruit bars and some jerky. My mom probably found some interesting chip or other product she wanted us to try. (My mom still does this. She'll take us shopping and find some product she thinks is interesting, buy it for us, eat one, then give it back to us.)
Back to the tofu - so my sister bought tofu. When she prepared it at home we all took a pinch of the log. It reminded me of chicken fat. I wasn't interested. I think she crumbled it up and mixed it in this meal she use to make. She'd heat a grain like chickpeas with Italian salad dressing and cheese until warm. Then it was mixed with salad greens and stuffed inside a warm pita. It was so good, but the tofu couldn't be tasted.
So besides the thought of chicken fat, it was a decent first experience. It took me 8 years from then and 2 years of veganism before I bought my tofu to experiment.
5 comments:
Cool post. I was exposed to tofu based stuff at a very young age because I grew up 7th Day Adventist and they are all vegetarian. Strangely enough my family wasn't vegetarian(we butchered cows instead) but it wasn't until I became an adult that I learned to appreciate tofu and of course now I eat it almost daily...
thanks for sharing. i have always liked tofu, as long as it was fried. now that i can't eat it, it makes me sad.
Oh ya, I remember that recipe. It was really good. I should try to track in down....wait, maybe I never even had a recipe. Ya, that's more like it. Which store were you talking about? New Harvest on 9th easty or Kathy's up in Holliday?-sister
wow, how interesting!! even before I became a vegan, I've always liked tofu (since I've been eating miso soup for as long as I can remember! the kind that my parents always served had tofu in it). I'm glad you eventually got to experience tofu :0)
Tofu was nasty, hippie food... until I became veg*n. Now, it's a staple, and I continue to tell other people that it isn't, in fact, nasty hippie food...
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