Need to cook tofu?

[CCCmom27]

Hi there.  I would like to give cubes of tofu for a finger food but I'm not for sure if I need to cook it or not.  I think I read somewhere soft/silken doesn't need to be cooked but is that also true for the extra firm?  I also thought I read somewhere you can just cube it and dust it with something but for the life of me I can't find where I read that!  I was also wondering if it's ok to mush up the extra firm to mix with some fruit or veggies?  Thanks!

[lilmonkey]

Depending on who made the tofu, you can cook it or not.  I tend to cook them when giving anything at this young age.  And yes, it's fine to add mushed up tofu into purees.  It may not be appealing to us but some babies love really weird puree mixtures.

[momtonb&ab]

usually tofu just needs to be warmed, and add a little flavour to it - my kids LOVE it!

[jess, lukeys_mom]

I am a former vegetarian  and eat lots of tofu. from about 7 mo i put it in everything for ds - and never cooked it unless it's going with a recipe.

the uses are endless but what i do are:

- mush up and include in his warm breakfast cereal (started doing silken then extra firm). i still put firm tofu in his oatmeal
- mash with a little avocado for a sandwich
- add to smoothie - silken or firm is fine
- you can dust little squares with a little flour, cornstarch, etc and fry up in a pan. when your lo is old enough for nuts you can roll these in ground nuts and then sautee
- scramble (especially good for tofu that's been frozen and then thawed. if you freeze, squeeze out as much water as you can first)

[CCCmom27]

Thanks for the quick replies!  I got the extra firm but maybe I'll start out mashing it and mixing it with something.  DS is 8 months and I just recently starting giving him toast and he loves it!  I've been trying to figure out something to put on it other then butter or apples so maybe tofu mixed with a veggie would be good?  I know this isn't the topic of the post but how do you keep them from shoving a whole bunch in their mouth?  I tried giving him strips of toast, but he wanted to shove half of it in his mouth so I started cutting it in small squares. So if I cube it should I fry it a little in a pan or just give it to him raw?

Jess when you say scramble it do you do it like scrambling eggs or what?

[jess, lukeys_mom]

Yes like scrambling eggs. You can put a little oil or butter in a pan and then crumble to tofu in. Not too fine as it will break up a little when you're cooking it, and just brown it (or 'golden' it).  As ds tastes start to evolve you can add other things like small veggies. What I do now for me and ds is sautee an onion, then a little small diced pepper, and maybe other veg if we have on hand. When it's done I toss with seasonings (cumin, coriander, etc) but don't do much on ds's.

For toast cream cheese was a big favorite in our house.  Also hummus which I introduced sometime between 7 and 8 months (if you have food allergies you may want to wait as it contains sesame) - but that continues to be a big hit. Mashed banana is good on bread too.

You don't need to pre-toast the bread per se but if you do then can you just toast the whole piece of bread, spread it, then cut it up? Or am i missing what you meant? X

[MarvinSwece]

I love tofu. Ive often had it in soups or stir fries or whatever but Ive never bought and used it myself. I bought some silken tofu this morning. What are some simple ways for me to use it? Does it have to be cooked? Can it just be cubed and tossed through a salad? My family wont eat it, its just for me, and I dont want to cook fancy meals with it, just throw a quick lunch or snack together.