Cohousing has changed a lot over the years, but cooking for one another remains a joy, along with our love for good, wholesome food.  CohoUS Staff has recently uncovered a stash of cohousing recipes. We hope you’ll enjoy them as much as we do.  To add to this treasure chest, send your favorite recipe and a bit of the story, to staff@cohousing.org.

Reprinted from September 2007:

This month I’m featuring a recipe, Yummy Tofu Salad, from a California cohousing community. This one is from Joani Blank at Swan’s Market Cohousing in Oakland. Joani has been passionate about common meals even longer than I have. I remember going to one of her talks at a cohousing conference before we even had a common house!

She’s lucky enough to live a couple of blocks from Oakland’s wonderful Chinatown where firm, fresh tofu can be had for 15 or 16 cents a “cake,” making this recipe extremely inexpensive. And conveniently, a single large box of tofu contains 35 cakes, just the right amount for common dinners that typically attract from 24 to 30 diners. For the rest of us, it’s still inexpensive, easy to prepare, and can be made ahead of time.

Yummy Tofu Salad* (Eggless Egg Salad)

Firm or extra firm tofu, drained and crumbled or mashed with a fork (about 1 to 1-1/2 cakes per person)

Real mayonnaise or, if preferred, vegan (eggless) “mayonnaise” or extra virgin olive oil

Green onions, chopped fine

Bragg’s Liquid Aminos (flavorful gluten-free soy sauce available in your local health food store)

For color and crunch, add yellow and red bell peppers, chopped

Combine all ingredients except the Bragg’s Aminos, mix, and refrigerate until time to serve. Just before serving, add Bragg’s for saltiness, and ground pepper to taste.

Serve atop salad greens garnished with green or black olives, or with crackers as a side dish. It also can substitute for egg salad in sandwiches – add a couple of leaves of lettuce and a slice of tomato, or serve it by itself for kids. Joani likes to serve it with hearty, hot vegetable soup in winter and cold soup in summer.

* No specific quantities of ingredients are given because you really can’t go wrong if you start with enough tofu.