Presenting Soybella…the amazing soy milk machine!!!

So, yeah, yeah, I bought another damn appliance….but I REALLY needed it!! I’ve been dying to make my own tofu, but putting it off because the process involves straining soaked soybeans ground up in water….through a nut bag.

And I HATEHATEHATE squeezing soy or nut milk through that strainer bag. It takes forever and is super messy and disgusting.

…unless, of course, you have a fabulous soy milk maker! In fact, with the soy milk maker, you’re able to cut out a few steps (and a few dishes because you don’t even need to reheat the soy milk to make tofu!

So…how do you make tofu? It’s actually surprisingly easy…and astonishingly cheap!

DIY Tofu

This recipe makes a half-pound chunk of tofu from 100 grams of soybeans. Soybeans are about fifty cents per 100 grams, so it’s quite economical (if you don’t count the $150 Soybella soy/nut milk machine)!

1. Soak 100 grams of soybeans over night.
2. Drain the beans (at this point you can rub them over a mesh strainer to loosen the skins and remove them, but you don’t have to).
3. Place the soybeans in the grinder chamber of the soy milk maker.
4. Fill the water chamber with one litre of water and close up the machine.
5. Press “Milk” and your soy milk will be ready in about twenty minutes.
6. Pour soy milk into a four-cup measuring cup.
7. Dissolve a half teaspoon of calcium chloride (or lemon juice) in a 1/4 cup hot water, drizzle into the soy milk, and mix gently.
8. Cover the measuring cup for about an hour.
9. Prepare a mold with drainage holes and line with cheesecloth, place the mold in a colander, and place the colander in the sink.
10. Pour the soymilk (which will have separated into curds and whey) into the mold, wrap the cheese cloth around the curds, and place a weight on top.
11. Leave to set for several hours.
12. Fill a Tupperware container with cold water, and place the tofu (still in its cheesecloth) into the water and allow to set overnight in the fridge.
13. Remove from the water, unwrap the cheesecloth, and re-wrap in paper towels.
14. Set a cutting board over top to squeeze out a bit of water.

 

At this point, your tofu is ready to prepare any old way you want it. It’s a bit more fragile than regular tofu, so I’ve been cutting it into chunks and marinating it with my universal marinade.

 

 

And we ate the marinated, baked tofu in a wrap with rice, lettuce, tomatoes, and shredded carrots. I spread a bit of dill-cashew dressing on the tortilla to give it a bit of spark.

Now….about the tortillas: these are homemade wraps made with….SWEET POTATO!!! They are seriously delicious and SO freakin’ healthy, particularly because the only other ingredient is SPROUTED whole wheat flour (oh, and a little salt).

Just look at this beauty!!

So…how do you make them? It’s easy! The detailed instructions can be found here, but all you basically have to do is mix together a teaspoon of salt and equal parts flour (I used sprouted whole-wheat flour, but you can use whatever flour you want) and cooked mashed sweet potato.

Next, let it sit for ten minutes, then roll it into a log and divide the log into eight parts:

Roll each piece into a ball and roll it out into a thin tortilla with a rolling pin:

Cook on a hot griddle flipping every thirty seconds until brown spots appear and the tortilla puffs up:

Place the cooked tortillas in a tea towel, so they remain soft:

Now…load those delicious suckers up and chow down!!

Today, I made some succulent refried beans and loaded up the tortillas with the beans, rice, avocados, lettuce, salsa verde, and smoky vegan cheddar sauce. Delicious!!

And the song of the day is Lorde’s “Royals” because I was listening to Marc Maron’s interview with Lorde this morning as I made the refried beans (and I love the song!):

And how could I post this without posting my favourite cover of the song: