ThisIsTheDay Posted July 30, 2012 Share Posted July 30, 2012 I am making a cold pasta salad with a mayo based dressing as a side for dinner tonight. The recipe calls for chicken. Can I substitute tofu? Should I plan to dry it and fry it, as I do for hot pasta dishes? The alternative is no meat/tofu/protein in the salad, which is also fine. I wanted to consider this though--is it a good idea or not? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ChristyB in TN Posted July 30, 2012 Share Posted July 30, 2012 You could use it as is, but I think if it is a substitute for chicken I would fry it in some grapeseed, coconut or olive oil first for texture. Ideally, the best substitute for chicken (texture) is seitan. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
justLisa Posted July 30, 2012 Share Posted July 30, 2012 I don't like tofu, but it is tolerable to me if it is well pressed, and then seasoned and sauted until crispy. I know lots of tofu eaters who love it this way Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Laura Corin Posted July 30, 2012 Share Posted July 30, 2012 Can you get smoked tofu? Plain tofu (for me) needs strong flavours with it - it doesn't taste of much. Laura Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ThisIsTheDay Posted July 30, 2012 Author Share Posted July 30, 2012 Okay, I'm taking this a definitely, NO, I shouldn't substitute. I just pulled the chicken out of the fridge, and it's defrosting in the microwave. Thank you for helping me decide! I know my family will thank you too. :001_smile: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HappyLady Posted July 30, 2012 Share Posted July 30, 2012 I would have said I would think tofu would be fine. With a mayo based dressing I would think you'd only taste the mayo over the tofu/chicken anyway. If it were me, I would have preferred seitan if I wanted something that closely resembled chicken, or I would have frozen the tofu first to change its texture. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
micheller1 Posted July 30, 2012 Share Posted July 30, 2012 I'm not sure why you couldn't. We often use this stuff called "chik'n" in dishes I would normally put chicken in (like a taco soup) when I don't want to make double dishes b/c one of my daughters is a vegetarian (she does eat eggs, milk, fish). There are a lot of substitutes on the market besides just tofu - tonight I'm actually cooking a tofu pasta dish. It does need to be seasoned (marinated really) well. But it's good!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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