Tofu balls are a game-changer.

…that’s a sentence I never thought I’d say, but I am now saying it with complete and utter confidence, along with a healthy dose of humility. For many years, I associated tofu-based “meat”  items as the sole purview of 70s hippies, vegetarians who wore giant bell-bottoms and flowers in their hair and cavorted in meadows. I didn’t think I needed to bother with them – it’s 2012! We have Daiya and Gardein and Smart Grounds and hoverboards! Sure, I love a good slab of marinated tofu (…and tofu scramble and tofu “egg” salad…) as much as the next vegan, but I never felt the need to work tofu into my more traditional meat analogues, like burgers or meatballs.

Oh, how stupid I was, because I was missing out on these:

Tofu balls – not just for 70s hippies.

These are Isa’s Tofu Balls, based on a recipe from a book called Tofu Cookery. They are, in a word, delicious. The super simple combination of tofu, onions, soy sauce, bread crumbs, herbs and peanut butter all pan-fried in olive oil somehow creates an addictively tasty ball that crumbles pleasantly with some pressure but doesn’t fall apart on its own. Perfection.

I decided to make them last night after being reminded of their existence via this post about tomato sauce over at It Ain’t Meat, Babe. Paired with a variation on the tomato sauce in that post, served over whole-wheat fettuccine, and rounded off with a slice of roasted garlic bread, this was comfort food heaven.

Consider me roundly chastened. Never again will I doubt tofu’s adaptability and versatility, and never again will I doubt my hippie forebears. (Well, maybe I will… I’m pretty over bell-bottoms.)

What recipe pleasantly surprised you? Have you tried these tofu meatballs?