Eating mostly-plain cottage cheese and tofu.

January 13, 2009 10:22 AM

How many ways can I spice up plain tofu and cottage cheese...snackwise, with no cooking?

I need to increase the amount of (lowfat) protein I eat, and while I can and do eat both cottage cheese and tofu plain, it gets old really quick. What I'd like to do is have a whole bunch of mix-ins or maybe sandwich-y things, so I can more or less grab-and-go. I haven't tried these yet, but I was hoping for ideas along the lines of tofu and mustard on crackers, or cinnamon in cottage cheese? Maybe something with relish? And of course I often snack on the old standby of fruit in the cottage cheese. What else can I try?

posted by lemonade to food & drink (37 answers total)

Hot sauce.
posted by box at 10:25 AM on January 13, 2009

Cottage cheese mixes well with some odd things. Personally, I enjoy:

* cottage cheese and canned beets. chop up the beets a tad and mix it together to get some goopy pink stuff that tastes awesome.

* cottage cheese and canned tuna. yum

* cottage cheese and fruit. use mandarin oranges, clementines, grapes, or something

* cottage cheese and nuts. walnuts are great here.

As for the tofu, I like mine cooked or fried, but you can always throw some cubed tofu into salad... or maybe toss it in some soy sauce... /me shrugs
posted by phrakture at 10:31 AM on January 13, 2009

If you'd be willing to branch out to ricotta cheese, you can mix it with cinnamon or vanilla and sugar-free sweetener. Or add a little cocoa powder. Not sure how it would fare with cottage cheese but might be worth a try.

Try ground black pepper on cottage cheese.
posted by cabingirl at 10:32 AM on January 13, 2009

Cumin in cottage cheese is pretty tasty, in my opinion.

Tofu with some bottled asian sesame dressing or thai peanut sauce over it is also good, though better if you can microwave it until it's warm.

Also, lowfat string cheese sticks are tasty and lie in the same lowfat-protein niche.
posted by vytae at 10:35 AM on January 13, 2009

i have always liked soaking my tofu in some homemade sauces. Drain the water first and after its in the sauce i just toss it in a closed container in the fridge.

I usually use a mixture of the following:
soy sauce
furikake
scallions
ginger
fresh water
etc...really anything you have
posted by Black_Umbrella at 10:35 AM on January 13, 2009

I love cottage cheese with chives or scallion greens. Yum.
posted by amarynth at 10:35 AM on January 13, 2009 [1 favorite]

eat the cottage cheese with potato chips. it sounds weird but it's really good.
posted by gnutron at 10:36 AM on January 13, 2009

Mix diet hot chocolate mix with cottage cheese and a dash of splenda. Makes a great low calorie dessert when you're looking for a chocolate fix.

I like fresh dill, crushed black pepper, and a bit of garlic powder on cottage cheese for a light lunch.
posted by benzenedream at 10:42 AM on January 13, 2009

Tofu soaks up flavors really well. I like tofu in all kinds of ways:

- with delicate soy sauce, a few drops of lemon or rice wine vinegar, slivered scallions, and red pepper powder

- with emon, maybe a drop or two of sesame oil, furikake

- with a ginger/carrot/peanut or sesame dressing, like you'd get at a Japanese restaurant, and scallions. Good chopped up and tossed with shredded lettuce or cabbage.

- spread with white or other not-too-strong miso and broiled. Good in a sandwich.

- in a similar vein, spread with barbeque sauce or other sauce of your choice and broiled.

- mixed up like chicken or tuna salad, either with mayonnaise and celery and onions or with olive oil and lemon, maybe some cannelini beans and roasted red peppers

Seriously, you can use tofu as a base for pretty much whatever flavors you like. Slice it, cook it, mash it till it's creamy, whatever texture you need.
posted by peachfuzz at 10:43 AM on January 13, 2009 [1 favorite]

When I get home to my recipe book, I'll post the recipe for Tofu Garlic dressing. No cooking necessary, just blending. I usually make it pretty thick and eat it on bread (or with veggies, or crackers), but you can thin it out and actually use it as a salad dressing, too.

Also, me mum swears by cottage cheese on toast, with tomato slices and lots of pepper.
posted by eralclare at 10:44 AM on January 13, 2009 [1 favorite]

Curry!
posted by matteo at 10:44 AM on January 13, 2009

Top cottage cheese with apple sauce. Also I tried this once and it was awesome. Instead of grated cheese on pasta, try cottage cheese. As for Tofu, I don't use it so I wouldn't know.
posted by Mastercheddaar at 10:51 AM on January 13, 2009

My current favorite is cottage cheese with broccoli slaw and radish sprouts and lots of pepper. I've been eating it every day for a week. The slaw comes in a bag near the bagged salad greens.

Last summer I was all about the faux Greek salad: cucumber, tomatoes, and red onion, or faux caprese with tomatoes and fresh basil.

A friend just recommended to me the combination of cottage cheese with chopped carrots and cucumbers and a dash of sriracha. When I run out of broccoli slaw, I'm so there.
posted by padraigin at 10:53 AM on January 13, 2009

Pineapple goes great with both.
posted by General Malaise at 11:07 AM on January 13, 2009

Cottage cheese with cherry tomatoes and Triscuits (especially the sun-dried tomato or herb flavors) = yum.

I cut tofu into strips and bake it in the oven covered in bbq sauce. If you put it in and stir it for about 45 minutes, you basically have BBQ tofu jerky.
posted by Unicorn on the cob at 11:08 AM on January 13, 2009 [2 favorites]

Recently it occurred to me that cottage cheese is very similar to sour cream in flavor and texture. Once I made this mental shift, I was able to eat cottage cheese on everything. Maybe top with salsa and eat with chips?

Get the silk tofu and use for smoothies and dips.
posted by artifarce at 11:13 AM on January 13, 2009

I like cottage cheese on rice crackers (the thin crispy kind, not the puffy, styrofoam kind), with a dab of red pepper jelly. Yum!
posted by burntflowers at 11:24 AM on January 13, 2009

You might want to consider some alternatives to tofu now and then. Seitan is tasty if you can handle gluten, and tempeh doesn't have much more fat that cottage cheese.
posted by KirkJobSluder at 11:44 AM on January 13, 2009

I like jam type things on my cottage cheese. Fig preserves are awesome. With cinnamon it tastes kinda like rice pudding. I also like to eat it with dry cheerios or granola. artifarce said they think of it kinda like sour cream--I think of it like yogurt. Lumpy yogurt.
posted by shmurley at 12:02 PM on January 13, 2009

Lawry's Seasoning Salt + cottage cheese + delish.
posted by micawber at 12:17 PM on January 13, 2009

I'm surprised nobody has mentioned cottage cheese with olive oil and black pepper. It tastes like more than the sum of its parts!
posted by HotToddy at 12:32 PM on January 13, 2009 [2 favorites]

cottage cheese + ketchup + garlic powder + black pepper.

mmmm
posted by jourman2 at 12:33 PM on January 13, 2009

I love a spoonful of ground coriander in cottage cheese. Your Taste Buds May Vary.
posted by desuetude at 12:51 PM on January 13, 2009

Make a big bowl of that cottage cheese/jello/pineapple salad. Use the sugar free jello and go heavy on the cottage cheese. I always sneered at it but it's really pretty good and super easy. You don't really have to cook it, just boil water and stir. The directions are usually on the package. I've only ever had it with lime jello so I can't vouch for the other flavors..
posted by BoscosMom at 12:59 PM on January 13, 2009

I confess to having a bit of an addiction to curry powder (enough, in fact, that I smell of it when I sweat and yet, still, I cannot stop..that's a whole 'nothing AskMe posting in the making, however).

I recently discovered a serious love for cottage cheese with curry powder added. If you can leave it to 'soak' for about 20 minutes (or longer, I'd imagine) it's even better...
posted by VioletU at 1:12 PM on January 13, 2009

Peanut butter. Not low fat, but tastes great and as far as dieting is concerned, eating a (reasonable) amount of healthy fats will only make things better.
posted by bradly at 1:21 PM on January 13, 2009

(oops, that's with cottage cheese)
posted by bradly at 1:21 PM on January 13, 2009

(oops, that's with cottage cheese)

But mixed with garlic, onions, red pepper flakes, vinegar, and sugar, and thinned out with a little water, it's a great sauce for tofu (cold or cooked), too!
posted by peachfuzz at 1:32 PM on January 13, 2009

Cottage cheese + Sriacha chili sauce

Visually unappealing but delicious.
posted by homuncula at 1:49 PM on January 13, 2009

Cottage cheese + sliced banana + cinnamon + crushed roasted nuts + honey is amazingly delicious. I actually like it better with quark though, and it's even more delicious with ricotta, but not so low fat. Plus, really filling.
posted by Emilyisnow at 3:04 PM on January 13, 2009

flax seeds! nutritious and tasty!
posted by nokry56 at 3:41 PM on January 13, 2009

Pretty much the only way I can eat cottage cheese is with green onions and black pepper. Mmm.
posted by eldiem at 4:28 PM on January 13, 2009

I like cottage cheese mixed/roughly mashed with boiled potatoes (red ones are nice). It sounds strange, but it's good.
posted by needs more cowbell at 4:30 PM on January 13, 2009

You could buy dessert tofu to switch it up every once in a while. I like almond tofu, which I can buy at my local Asian grocery.
posted by crazycanuck at 8:32 PM on January 13, 2009

cottage cheese mixed with your favorite salad dressing.
posted by Vaike at 12:19 AM on January 14, 2009

I love cottage cheese with chilled canned peaches.
I also like to top a toasted bagel with cottage cheese... maybe with a drizzle of honey.

For tofu, try lightly coating in flour, then dipping in a beaten egg and lightly frying it. Eat with chilli sauce or soy sauce and rice. Make sure you get firm, not silken tofu when you do this.
posted by like_neon at 4:03 AM on January 14, 2009

kimchi is great on plain cold tofu
posted by rxrfrx at 1:21 PM on January 18, 2009