Tofu Spread (vegan or lacto)

makes 1 med-large plastic container full
(enough for 1-1.5 weeks' lunches for me)

Ingredients:

1-1.5 blocks firm tofu, sliced in half and pressed
          to remove excess water
a couple stalks celery
1-2 carrots
a few scallions or small onion
fresh parsley and/or dill, 1 handful or more
soy sauce (any variant) to taste
hot sauce to taste
a pinch turmeric (for color, optional)
1 tsp (or more) prepared mustard, to taste
1-2 Tbs tofu mayonnaise (if lacto, can use nonfat yogurt)
optional: green or black olives, other herbs, radishes,
  sweet red pepper, ground black pepper, pickles, etc.

Wash & dry parsley and/or dill, and chop finely in food processor.
Cut veggies into chunks small enough to fit in food processor
and process until well-chopped (if you want it chunkier, stop earlier).
Crumble pressed tofu into processor --- as much as will fit, leaving 
some room at top for expansion --- and add mustard, soy sauce, 
and enough mayo to moisten.  Pulse processor several times to mix,
then process until smooth. If too dry, add more mayo or, for less fat,
a liquid like orange/lemon juice.  Taste and add more of whatever
you think necessary (this can be really bland without amendments).

Pressing tofu: try to cut slices same depth, so pressure will be
distributed
evenly across them. Stack (from bottom): newspapers, 1-2 layers of paper 
towel, tofu slices (lay slices side by side, compact as possible), another
layer
of paper towel, a cutting board, and weights (I use jars of beans,
CAREFULLY
distributed across the board). Be careful here to balance jars, etc., I
broke at least one unique ceramic canister this way!  Leave for a few hrs
(1/2 hr. minimum).

NOTE: this is NOT a precise recipe, so play with it until you 
like the results. Hence the vague directions! Also, if you don't have a 
food processor, handchopping and mashing (with potato masher) 
will work, but results will be less homogenized (maybe better for some).
If you add the turmeric, it will look more like (dare I say it?) egg salad.
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MEATLESS LOAF (orig. posted by Jean Reese, adapted from Veg. Times)
============
makes 1 loaf, approx. 6x10" (fits comfortably into a 9x13" pan with 
a couple inches margin around for sauce --- see below). VEGAN/OVO.

2 tbs. sunflower or other veg. oil
2 medium onions, chopped
4.5 oz. TVP granules
1 cup hot water or vegetable stock
1.5cups breadcrumbs
0.5 Tbs. mixed herbs (such as parsley, sage, rosemary and thyme)
1Tbs. freshly chopped parsley
2 cloves crushed garlic
1 egg, beaten (or egg replacer)
2 Tbs. soy sauce
salt and pepper to taste

Sauce:
2 16 oz. cans of chopped tomatoes
1 6 oz. can tomato paste
salt and pepper to taste


Preheat oven to 350 degrees. In a large saucepan, heat oil and saute
onions until lightly browned.  Add the TVP mince, stir and cook for
two minutes.  Pour the hot water or stock over the saute and simmer
for four minutes.

In a separate bowl, mix the breadcrumbs, herbs and garlic together with
one cup cold water.  Stir in the egg and leave to one side for ten
minutes.

Combine the cooked TVP mince with the breadcrumbs mixture, then add the
soy sauce.  Stir well and season to taste.  Using your hands, shape
the mixture into an oval mound and place it in the center of a large
baking dish, leaving plenty of space all around for the tomato sauce
to run.

Heat the tomatoes, tomato paste and seasoning in a small saucepan, 
and pour over the loaf, then bake for one hour.  Serves 6.

JTK's notes:  I usually add more herbs & chopped garlic, and saute chopped
vegetables like celery, carrots, and/or mushrooms after onions are done but
before adding TVP. Hot sauce is a good addition, too, or other flavored
sauce like veg. Worcestershire. The egg replacer works fine --- not sure if
it's even necessary. Also, I make the tomato sauce differently (sometimes I
use canned/jar or homemade frozen sauce, and I prefer canned whole
tomatoes, pureed, to prechopped ones), but it doesn't matter much. I make
breadcrumbs from whatever bread is available, preferably wholewheat
(lightly toasted for dryness) --- doesn't matter much either. Cracker
crumbs would probably do as well, if you don't have bread around or a food
processor/blender.  I've made 1.5x recipe into a single loaf OK, but larger
wouldn't work (would have to make separate loaves, if larger quantities are
desired)
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SPICY TOFU PATE (vegan) --- from the net, don't know authorship (sorry).

1 lb. tofu (fresh)
1/4 c. whole wheat flour
1/4 c. cornmeal
1/2 c. wheat germ
1/4 c. veg. oil
2 Tbsp. soy sauce
1 tsp. molasses
1/2 tsp. ground fennel
1 clove garlic or 2 tsp. garlic powder
1/4 tsp savory
1/4 tsp powdered sage
1/2 tsp allspice
2 tsp oregano
2-3 tsp. Dijon mustard (or any prepared mustard)

Mash tofu in a large bowl. Add remaining ingredients, mix well
with fork or by hand. Pack into small oiled casserole dish; cover
with two or three paper towels. Steam 25 to 35 minutes on a rack
inside a covered pot with water on stove or in a pan of water in
the oven at 375 degrees.
Top will brown slightly. Cool before removing from dish. Steaming
blends flavors. Stores up to two weeks in fridge. Makes 2.5 cups.

JTK's notes: I accidently used wheat bran instead of germ, and it still
worked (kind of dry, though). I made this in a 2-qt. porcelain souffle
dish, which it filled approx. 2/3.  I didn't have savory so I substituted
fresh thyme. As usual, I added more garlic & hot sauce. Mash tofu very well
or you will have lots of tofu lumps --- I think I might try blending this in
the food processor next time, to avoid this problem.  This was enough for 
maybe 4 days of lunches for me (pate on 4-5 Wasa breads/rice cakes per day). 


Judy Karpen                "pushing back the frontiers of science"
karpen@nrlfs1.nrl.navy.mil  Naval Research Lab, Washington, DC USA