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Wednesday, September 7, 2011

Tempeh, Tofu, Teats, & Tamoxifen. Soy and Cancer. You need to know. Anupy's Masala Tofu Scramble Recipe. Get Skinny on Soy? Eggs & Celery.



Seriously.  You need to watch this.  I found it pretty incredible.  Looks like if you want to reduce your risk of cancer........even breast cancer while taking tamoxifen (the second video)!   Watch!  Then grab your tofu! These are from my favorite nutritionist, Dr. Michael Greger.  Nutritionfacts.org






I have made "Tofu Scramble" maybe, um, hundreds of times.  No kidding.  I always add the turmeric, but vary between Mexican, American style, and Indian Spices.  So when I saw Tofu Masala on Anupy Singla's "Indian As Apple Pie" blog, I kind of figured it would taste like "my" Indian Tofu.  Don't ever doubt Anupy.  This was hands down, the best Masala Tofu Scramble ever made in my house!


Hmmm...I have seen Anupy write about Kala Namak being one of her fave spices, but I once again, thought...salt.....really??  Yeah, that's because I have never had black salt.  This stuff stinks of sulfur & is the most delicious salt you will encounter!! It doesn't just add sodium, but gives imparts a real "eggy" flavor.  Which is what we are kind of going for here.  The Kala Namak is the "mystery" ingredient! The "original" unvegan version is scrambled egg.  So we are just leaving the chicken out of it this time around and keeping our heart healthy.  If you wonder what's wrong with eggs, sneak a peek at the video at the end.  FYI, you would have to eat 371 avocados to get the amount of cholesterol you get eating 1 egg!!


This just happens to be 365 brand, but I actually prefer WhiteWave.
It doesn't matter at all really, but aim to buy organic (at least for soy products).  And you don't need to freeze it at all-just keep it in your fridge.  We tend to buy stuff in bulk, and run out of room in our fridge (s).


I also buy the turmeric in bulk and keep it in a glass jar.  Turmeric is getting a lot of good press these days (to reduce inflammation) and it's cheap and I buy organic from Mountain Rose Herbs. 


If you are new to Indian Cuisine, Pick up Indian Chili powder, which is NOT a mix of spices.  Don't be buying Mexican Chili and wondering what's jacked up with your tofu dish.   

We buy extra firm tofu.  Then press the water out (kind of but I don't really knock myself out on this).  They sell tofu presses which have been all the rage on vegan blogs, but, I guess I am "old school" and have lived without one for this long!



What's that?  Yes.  I am using a cast iron skillet.  Notice, there is NO slow cooker in this recipe!!  Anupy is working on an ALL VEGAN book due to come out in 2012 and that is why she is being such a Plant Flirt.  She's mostly a Plant Eater anyway, but now she is really coming out to play!!  Ditching the eggs for Tofu!!!!  And the next book will have both slow cooker recipes & regular stove top & salads & we will just have to wait and see what else.  She is in her kitchen creating!!  


Still easy.  Even without the slow cooker.  Fry up the spices & onion.
By the way, there's no garlic in this recipe. So you can eat the whole pound, go to work, and not burp garlic the entire day.  Of course, add your own if you think your workmates will miss it, or you are expecting a vampire.  Unless of course you like the vampire.

Add your tofu.  

And you just transformed tofu into Magical Masala Tofu compliments to Anupy Singla.





I am just a little crazy about Anupy's slow cooker book.  I didn't really cook at all for a long time, as I was doing a LOT of raw food but then I felt guilty for not having a spectacular meal always made for my man.  He likes raw stuff too, but sometimes it just gets WEIRD.  I think the Raw Burdock Salad might have just been a wee too healthy, from the Cafe Gratitude book.  Um, don't think that recipe got a whole lot of "gratitude".  Anupy's food is super healthy, but it doesn't taste like it's missing anything (and it doesn't use massive amounts of raw burdock).  Anyway, now it's so easy to throw some stuff in the crockpot & leave.  I don't even have to soak the beans.  Simple.  And I adore Indian food as well-it was the one cuisine that "Raw" didn't really fulfill and I still can't bring myself to fully demonize beans.  I still have time & energy to make fresh, raw food but can also put together a dish in 15 minutes!  So everyone is happy and I don't really have to spend much more time preparing food (although it is my meditation room).




The Turmeric makes it that "eggy" color.  Don't spill that stuff on your clothes.  All of my "cooking" shirts have lovely yellow tints.  I used it in a facial mask once, and thankfully didn't have to leave the house for a couple days afterwards.  Apparently that has happened to other gals too, getting a little "too" yellow with the "natural" masks.  Sheesh.  I won't even go there with pure sea buckthorn oil.  I have nightmares about turning red.


Hands down, the best Masala Tofu Scramble I have ever made.  Loved the flavor.  And this dish isn't super hot.  You can change the amount of pepper-but it's not a "knock ya out" kind of heat.  Simply Lovely.  Think that even non-tofu lovers would dig this.  As tofu doesn't have a flavor anyhow-it takes on whatever seasoning you put on it.  I know there are some tofu "haters" out there, but unlikely any of those people would even be looking at this blog! I did want to throw in some shout outs for soy though.  As it has been getting a bad rap lately, mostly from people who chug Krill Oil and farm salmon in their bathtubs and raise chickens in their basement.  You certainly can be vegan and not eat any soy at all, ever.  Totally possible.  But between the disses from the Egg Industry and the Fish Oil Industry, thought we should give soy some actual peer reviewed study time.  Thanks Dr. Greger.




And the SKINNY on Soy.  You know all that talk about "calories being equal" blah blah blah blah meh.  I totally can't count calories, I give up after one meal.  But have never worried about them either.  Why?  Maybe because if you eat whole plant foods (leave the Tofu Cuties out of your daily diet), then you are actually thinner.  Check out this short video.  With animal or soy products, the same amount of calories consumed resulted in a significant drop in abdominal fat for the "soy group".  Soy actually has something that helps prevent cells from taking the fat up in the first place.  So it does matter from where your calories come.  These magical "phytoestrogens" are SO magical that the Meat Industry bragged that a piece of meat measured 4 in phytoestrogens.  A Veggieburger?  4000.  Dairy Milk had 6.  Soymilk? 6000.  So if ya want to stay skinny, be pickin' that organic soy up next time at the super.  Then people will be asking "How do you eat So much food and stay thin??".  And you can just smile, as you ate an entire pound of tofu in the form of pudding just minutes earlier.  So grab that soy & make Masala!!



If ya eat eggs, grab the celery.
To get your VAP cholesterol numbers "in check", grab Anupy's "The Indian Slow Cooker" book.

The Indian Slow Cooker: 50 Healthy, Easy, Authentic Recipes
The Indian Slow Cooker: 50 Healthy, Easy, Authentic Recipes
And if you want to really Simplify your cooking, pick up a "Spice Tiffin" with standard measuring spoons!


Spice Box: Stainless steel masala dabba holds Indian spice, seasoning
"The Spice Tiffin"
Photo by "Brave New Pictures"
This will save you a lot of time opening jars of bulk spices and finding your spices!
Comes with standard measuring spoons and you don't need a knife to "level" off!




Sounds True, Inc.

20 comments:

  1. http://www.healthbeyondhype.com/info/cinderellas-dark-side/

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  2. Thanks! Such a good post. Will try to find the black salt. Thankfully there is an Indian grocery right down the street, and I need some fresh ginger anyway. :)

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  3. I ate Eggless Egg Salad yesterday! Not tellin' me nothin' new.

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  4. Yes! I'm on the lookout for black salt too. The cancer stuff scares me so I'll just say, nice looking scramble!

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  5. I SO WANT SOME OF THIS TOFU CREATION!! <3

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  6. I have got to get on the tofu scramble bandwagon. I'm embarrassed to say...I've never made one. Don't tell anyone!

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  7. @foodfeud. Regarding the Cancer-the video is only a couple of minutes, if that and saying that Soy dramatically reduces your chances of getting the cancer from the getgo & even dramatic reduction of recurrence if you HAVE cancer & taking Tamoxifen. So GREAT news!!!! Tofu for the Tits! Yeah!

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  8. I personally think soy is only good in it's purest form and nonGMO, like a quality organic tofu. All of the other meatless soy products out there and soy milk scare me!

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  9. @Emily. I realize there are a lot of Weston-Price/Mercola peeps that talk a lot of smack about soy. However, I was introduced to tofu through a book called "The Tofu Cookery" that actually showed you how to make tofu at home! I also have looked into it a fair amount-and it seems that any "argument" that soy was "flawed" has been proven wrong by peer reviewed studies. Many of them are on Nutritionfacts.org site. Such as the male sexuality issue-it seems that it was a pesticide they were spraying on crops. I think a lot of it is myth that isn't actually backed up by science-and there is a financial incentive from both sides, to push soy. However, that is GM Soy, Roundup Soy, etc....I don't choose to purchase Genetically Modified anything!! And try to eat the smallest amount of pesticides possible-But that goes for ALL foods for me, not just soy! The really ironic thing is that the majority of soy grown worldwide is for animal feed-so if people really don't want to consume genetically modified food, then they first need to give up the meat & dairy! It's really easy to find organic, decent brands of soy. I find most of the food I see with soy is organic and states non-GMO on the package. I personally do not consume much soy because I just try to minimize buying food that comes in packages and is processed at all. I also think that at a time that we are broke, partially due to the way that people eat, that organic soy foods aren't an issue. If people were eating organic soy instead of addictive meat & cheese foods, I seriously doubt that the levels of obesity, diabetes, heart disease would be at their current levels. It blocks fat, helps in someway balance your good & bad estrogens, and has no cholesterol. So I just can't see the fear of Soy being that justified. And soymilk you can make at home as well. Just buy some organic soybeans, put them in your soymilk maker, which heats & grinds the beans and spits out soymillk. No chemicals, no crazy shit. I tend to favor organic nut milks from my vitamix. But I would never knowingly drink milk again-that's some scary processed shit. The thyroid issues? Well, lots of foods can block thyroid functions-not just soy. I am not going to stop eating broccoli because of that-but I do get my numbers checked and I stay in the preventive range of .5-1
    Which most preventive docs are saying is much better than the anything "under 4" is okay. I favor organic anything, and yes over local. Seriously, if people are using poison to grow shit, and I buy that shit. I am sponsoring and enabling bad work conditions-I don't want to intentionally be the cause of cancer & other illnesses because when I buy something that was grown with pesticides, (If I have the choice), then I am saying that it is okay to make people work in those types of conditions. And the truth is that most local foods don't even have a smaller footprint if they are meat & dairy, or grown with petroleum based fertilizers. As that jacks up the carbon footprint right there. But since the Dairy Council is actually a government organization, they aren't going to advertise that.

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  10. But the organic soy? The macrobiotic peeps have been doing it for years and they seem fine. I was watching this woman on the dance floor, being totally wowed by how muscular she was, thinking she must be a ballet dancer. At the end of the song she came and sat at my table & I realized that was my 50 year old friend that was the hottie on the floor-she eats soy everyday and has been macrobiotic for years! I am not macrobiotic myself, but have seen countless benefits of others and they have actually cured themselves of many conditions with it-so I am not going to knock soy. I am going to knock the stupid stuff people do, like use crop dusters and spray poison on food, feed animals poison and then eat the animals, etc....but the organic soybean before people around the globe hijacked it-I just can't find the evidence to do that yet.

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  11. @Rick. See Above. I glanced at the link you sent, but it's all the same stuff I have seen before. NutritionFacts.org has several videos on this, with peer reviewed studies, getting more to the points. I understand you think soy is wrong, and that's fine. I just need actual science to prove that eating organic soy is harmful-and whenever I look for it, all I really see is that in peer reviewed studies, it is helpful. I am not talking about non-organic soy or GM soy, etc...But if people are worried about those foods, then they need to give up meat because it's the animals that are consuming that. I have had my thyroid checked both on and off soy and it doesn't fluctuate (for me). Like I said, I personally tend to gravitate (at this point in my life) towards unpackaged foods-and of course I would LOVE to live on green juice like all the rest of you peeps who have actual discipline!!! But I don't "eat to live" so I try to make the most of what I do eat-eat as healthy as I can!!

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  12. Great post! I love how informative your posts always are. Thank you for doing this. I'm also familiar with your favorite nutritionist and love him too! One thing that's been batting around in my head is what is the level of soy I can give my young son without harming his reproductive tools. I've been reading stuff that's been bothering me. I've switched him to rice milk, but I bake with soy milk, and we eat tofu at least three times a week. Ever hear of anything about it?

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  13. I will see if I can find some more of Michael's posts about soy. But I do remember he had one about the pesticides being the cause about the fear of something to do with boys & soy. It was a certain chemical they sprayed. So I would imagine if you are using a good organic soy, that it would be totally different. Do you have a homemade soy/rice/nut milk maker?? You can buy a machine and it heats up the beans/rice/nuts and everything, grinds, and makes milk in minutes. You only need soak the soybeans. That way it really is as unprocessed as it gets. I make my own nutmilks in the VitaMix, using a small amound of organic nuts or seeds. I don't usually have them soaked, as I am not that pulled together! People use 1 cup of nuts/seeds to whatever amount of water. Lots have a ratio of 1 to 3 cups of water. It totally depends on how rich, fatty, you want it, or how much you want to spend on nuts! It's cheaper than the milk at the super & you don't have more trash/recycle. You can add your own vanilla/sweetener, whatever. But so economical. They soy/rice milk makers were around 100 bucks when we bought-but organic soybeans are dirt cheap!! I would post on Greger's FB page your questions/concerns about soy. I have gone back & forth over it, but have yet to come up with any REAL negative information-aside from if it is allergenic to someone. But I know people who have allergies to mangoes, avocadoes, almonds, everything! If we had kids, I would probably use the milk maker and use organic brown rice, or make nut milk in the vitamix. For cost and quality reasons. Or maybe just mix up the milks until you feel "resolved" about the whole soy issue!! Greger also had videos on his site about soy & prostrate cancer (I think)-so in all of my hormone reading (which I have done a lot of lately!!) it kind of seems like it maybe the DIM qualities in the soy, producing a good hormonal balance. Like the testosterone may be kept the same level, but maybe it lowers the DHT, which is considered good (from what I have read). Just like in chics, maybe it lowers the estrone-I am totally speculating here, but it kind of seems like it has the same effect of flax, saw palmetto, green teas, etc...that help with the good/bad hormone balance. The nutritionists know everything about nutrition, but I find they sometimes lump all hormones together-and hormone people haven't spent their lives studying food-so it's really aggravating for me!!!!

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  14. Yay for soy! That is pretty astonishing! I'm hoping by passing this on, it'll be the thing that finally makes my dad switch to soy, I think he needs just one more little nudge!

    And double yay for ANYTHING Indian, that looks like one mean tofu scramble!

    x

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  15. Thanks for the feedback to my question. I'll have to make sure I'm buying organic tofu. The last thing I want to do is to give my son problems in having babies later. I mean, we have this diet to be kind to everyone - animals and people, and my son! :-)

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  16. I'm hoping I can make your day! There is gluten free gluten. no, not kidding! http://happyherbivore.com/2011/09/gluten-free-seitan/

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  17. OMG. I think you just DID make my day!!! I'm clicking on the link now!!!!!
    THX!!

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  18. This sounds delicious!!! I lovee soy!

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  19. My Endocrinologist says no soy within 4 hours of taking my Nature-Throid prescription.

    Also, I believed the myth that too much soy can cause breast cancer!

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