“My life is like tofu – its what gets added that makes it interesting.”

Angela Johnson

While certainly common as bread among Asians, tofu is akin to “eww” among many of us Americans.  To many, it may have the texture of slightly melting jello and dreadfully bland; but truthfully, it’s pretty darn good for you and perhaps a fine change up in your weight loss efforts… especially when you add zing to it.

While data varies slightly by source, my tofu carton’s label indicated it had 60 calories for a “1 inch slice”, or roughly 85 grams.  It also has 6 grams of protein.  I had “2 inches” for my meal tonight.

Served by itself, it is not fattening.  It only becomes fattening if you prepare it with other foods such as pork or beef or fry it up.  In my photograph above, the tofu is simply topped with:

1. Green onions (You can have all the green vegetables, yes?),
2. Grated ginger for zing (I hope it’s allowed!), and,
3. Dried shaved bonito for texture and added flavor (“katsuobushi”).

Certain healthy weight loss literature indicates that soy sauce is OK in small quantities but I sprinkled mine with “Bragg’s Liquid Amino” which is allowed.  It is close in flavor to soy sauce – like Volkswagen is to Porsche.  🙂  As such and being an Asian boy at heart, I mixed mine at about a 3:1 ratio to be on the safe side.

It is satisfying and it does “fill you up”, as they say.

Because it’s low in calories, I did add an organic Appleton chicken/turkey sausage (120 calories) as a compliment to complete my meal – grilled without oil, of course.  My uneducated guess is that this fulfilling meal was about 400 calories, give or take… and without fuss.

So if you’re looking for a break in your meal routine, give this a whirl.  Why drive a Volkswagen when you can drive a Porsche?

(Asian hint for peeling your ginger – use the edge of your spoon to scrape it off.)