Versatile tofu can be good for you

Tofu's rep as a health food is well-deserved. The rubbery white slabs of soy are rich in protein and low in the things most of us should cut back on: sodium, animal protein, saturated fat, trans fat and cholesterol. Use tofu in entrees instead of meat or cheese and you'll improve the nutritional profile of any meal.

If you're not familiar with tofu, here's a quick overview:

Tofu - or soybean curd - is a traditional Asian food made in a process similar to the way we make cheese. A coagulant is used to curdle soymilk. Then the solids are separated from the liquid and pressed into a block the size and shape of a small paperback book. Tofu is odorless and bland, and it picks up the flavors of whatever it's cooked with.

Tofu is typically packaged for supermarkets in one pound blocks, floating in water and sealed into plastic tubs. You can also find tofu packaged in 12-ounce aseptic boxes, coagulated inside the package itself. Tofu is available in varying degrees of firmness, depending upon how much water has been pressed out of it, and some styles work better than others in certain recipes.

The most common way to see tofu used - and my favorite way to eat it - is cubed and stir-fried with vegetables in Chinese restaurants. Served with steamed rice, it's one of the most healthful meals you can order out, even though the added soy sauce can make it relatively high in sodium. Tofu can also be marinated and baked as an entree, and natural foods stores sell packages of barbecued tofu that can be sliced and used to make sandwiches.

As long as I've been eating tofu, though (more than 35 years), I've seldom eaten it as a main course at home. Instead, I like to use tofu in ways that make it more of a hidden ingredient. Here's how:

* As an egg substitute. Replace hardboiled eggs with chopped firm or extra firm tofu to make egg salad sandwich filling. (You can also replace regular mayonnaise with soy mayonnaise, available in most supermarkets and natural foods stores.) Chopped tofu also replaces egg on spinach salads, and it's good in broth-based soups, too. And here's a surprise: One quarter cup of any kind of tofu, blended with the liquid ingredients, can replace one whole egg in many recipes.

* As a cheese substitute. Crumble firm tofu and mix it with low-fat ricotta and mozzarella cheese in recipes for lasagna and other Italian dishes such as manicotti and stuffed shells.

* In dips, sauces, whipped toppings and cream soups. Soft tofu can be blended with liquids such as lemon or lime juice, vegetable oil and broth as well as with other soft foods such as avocado or baked garlic cloves in a wide range of recipes.

* In desserts, including cheesecake, pumpkin pie and pudding.

If I've piqued your interest, you'll be sold once you've seen the photos in Louise Hagler's classic book, "Tofu Cookery, Revised Edition" (Book Publishing Co., 1991).

For more ideas about ways to use tofu in cooking, see "Soy of Cooking" by Marie Oser (Chronimed, 1996), "The Complete Soy Cookbook" by Paulette Mitchell (Macmillan, 1998) or "New Soy Cookbook" by Lorna Sass (Chronicle Books, 1998).

Try tofu. You may find it becomes a useful - and healthful - household staple.