My favorite way to prepare tofu is marinating in Tamari(or soy sauce) and sauteing in just a little oil. You can then use it in stir fries. I also have a pot pie recipe if you're interested.

Click the link below to get an easy tofu recipe of mine.

Here is a link that might be useful: Tofu Broccoli Stirfry

Trader Joe sells excellent Indian and Thai cooking sauces. I chop extra firm tofu and saute it in those tasty sauces and serve on basmati rice. You can add vegetables, as you like. Delicious stuff! Just like from a restaurant, and all I did was saute!

Since some of mine are on Zaar, I will warn you to read my page first before trying them. It is under the name house. There is a disclaimer there on the current database and the recipes located on Zaar.

As to easy, look nothing could be easier as long as you know how to do tofu. Since we aren't taught by our parents it isn't easy.

First There are two types. One is the Mori Nu type aka silken. It is soft like a cottage cheese or cream cheese. It is best in smoothies and desserts such as pudding Don't try to drain it by pressing unless you plan on crumbling it.

The other, waterpacked is firmer. If you freeze it, it is much tougher and more meatlike but will resemble a sponge. Esp if you freeze, drain. Simply put on a slanted board and put a heavy plate or pan on top. Let sit until the water stops running. Now it is ready to marinate.

Tofu has taste. However it is so bland everything else overshadows it. Use your favorite 'sauce'. At our house we sometimes just pour sundried tomato dressing or raspberry pecan dressing over it and crumble and serve on a salad. The catch is marination time. The longer it sits, the more it will taste like what you are soaking it in. For a Western Beginner I recommend at least over night. Me? well heck I nibble it as I cut it so... However when we started the wife out on it, I soaked it overnight.

Now what to do? Lets see
Crumble and put on salad
I make a dish that uses the tofu, our favorite bread dressing and veggies mixed in for a casserole. If you are lacto add a vegetarian cheese on top and melt.
I make our favorite stir fry sauce, marinate and simply pan fry with no oil [use cooking spray for this].
Bake until golden brown and serve with sides
Toss cooked or uncooked in a stir fry
Make Chocolate pudding or Vanilla pudding
BBQ it
Toss in your favorit stew
Make Dumplings such as Buddah's Jewels for a fancier meal
Mix with Seitan and make a loaf to replace turkey on thanksgiving

After you start working with it, the net has oodles of recipes that you can pick up in a hurry.

If you follow the link off my Zaar page, it will take you to where I now keep the recipes and I vouch for them as accurate. There is a long page of tofu recipe on the site under Vegetarian/Vegan on this site. Some are for advanced users and some are for beginners. The Orange Lacquered Tofu and Ricker's Tofu Roast are my favorites. The chocolate pudding ain't shabby either.

Note Ricker's tofu roast uses Seitan in the mix. That is simple to make. 1/2 cup vital wheat gluten [you can find that in the bakng section usually by Hodgson Mills or Bob's Red Mill] and 1/2 cup water, mix, knead 5 minutes boil in your favorite broth for an hour then use, refrigerate in broth or freeze in broth for future use.

And if you run into trouble give a yell. Humm maybe I better thaw the garlic pepper tofu for supper. Psst if you run into any smoked tofu? Give it a try. I love it.

I became a vegetarian on Jan. 1st of this year and have just recently begun to use tofu in dishes I make at home. The first attempt was to use it in place of chicken, in stir fry because I began ordering tofu instead of chicken, at Pei Wei, and liked it. I will admit prior to eating tofu, I was hesitant of it's taste, just based on how it looks, but like others said, it takes on the taste of the dish you are incorporating it into. This is an informative thread! Thank you for your question and for the answers provided. I've learned a lot from it!

The very best tofu I ever had was at a Chinese restaurant. The dish was called "Tofu prepared like Chicken". I've never been able to discover a recipe for this but it was definitely marinated in something. I marinate mine in a good vinegrete over night and use in salad.but most of the time, I use beans and lentils for my protein. It's possible to do so many wonderful things with them.

Ditto on the scrambled tofu. We like to add crushed coriander and nutritional yeast to it. Grilled onions.

I've also sliced tofu in 1/4" strips, and pan fried it in a little (very little) oil. I repeat this on both sides until browned. Cook most of the water out. Take all the cooked strips, and return them to the pan and baste on a mixture of:

Braggs or Tamari, bbq sauce, cayenne per your taste, a little lemon or lime juice. Experiment with the mix. Make sure you like the taste prior to basting. I've brought these strips to veggie potlucks, and everybody loved them. They can even be eaten cold. I call it BBQ'd tofu, but in reality, it never touches a BBQ pit.

I use it in many ways. I even slice off a hunk of firm or extra firm and put it raw on a tomato sandwich.

My favorite use for firm tofu is sauteed until crispy-edged in a little olive oil, seasoned with soy sauce and nutritional yeast, placed on pita bread with mayo, sprouts and ripe avacado. Yum.

dr_house_pa........Lots of good information! Thank you. Would you share your favorite stir-fry sauce? Jim...your strips sound delicious. Thank you.

Tofu can be so simple! Just slice into 1/2-3/4" thick pieces and fry in a pan with a little oil and spices. I like using a bit of onion, garlic, and thyme makes for a nice chicken-y flavour, but nearly any spices will work. Tofu martinates very quickly as well, so smother it in your favourite sauce (bbq, soy, plum sauce) for 10 minutes or even the night before and toss it in the pan like that. If you don't like the tofu completely by itself, you can cut it into cubes and mix it with a vegetable stir fry or a salad, or top it on a sandwich.
Make sure you by firm or extra firm tofu for this method, otherwise it will fall apart in the pan.