Tofu

We had a vegetarian for dinner. Not as the main course, but as guest. He was amiable. And flexible. Not that he tolerated meat, or seafood or fish. Or even carrot puree bolstered with broth that remembered meat or seafood or fish. But he was willing to endure egg and cheese. And happy to bring his own. Tofurkey. Hardly necessary, I said. Or advisable, I thought. But he insisted. He's crazy about tofurkey. Which, apparently, is turkey. Made from tofu. I've got nothing against tofu.

KITCHEN TIP "Replace the mayonnaise in tuna, egg, pasta and chicken salads with pureed, seasoned silken tofu or plain low-fat yogurt, dressed up with your favorite diced vegetables and seasonings." weightwatchers.com Know a helpful shortcut in the kitchen? Send it to Kate Shatzkin, Food Editor, The Sun, 501 N. Calvert St., Baltimore 21278 or e-mail it to food@baltsun.com. thebrewsite.com This site for beer enthusiasts compiles news and beer reviews from around the Internet while providing home-brew recipes and a discussion board for avid beer bloggers.

At the Yabba Pot, a tiny vegan restaurant in Charles Village, customers bop their heads to reggae music as they wait by the takeout counter for their food. Posters tout the benefits of vegetarian eating and living in harmony with nature. Vegetarian cookbooks, organic body lotions and CDs of reggae music are for sale. This is more than a place to get food. It's a state of mind. Skai Davis, who owns the restaurant with Addison Frett, said a yabba pot is a clay cooking pot commonly used by Rastafarians.

Diners who love Mexican food but are looking for a healthier alternative to deep-fried chimichangas may find what they're looking for at Frisco Burritos in Columbia. The restaurant, featuring a Cal-Mex menu, opened in the Lakeside Shopping Center off Dobbin Road in June. Tacos are made with chicken, steak, chorizo sausage and black beans, or spinach with grilled peppers and onions - even tofu or fish - but no ground beef. "We try to go a little bit healthier than ground beef," said owner Adam Carton, a native of Columbia.

Soy -- it's what's for dinner. And breakfast. And lunch these days.At least, that's what food consultants are predicting -- and nutritionists and dietitians are urging."

Walk down the narrow, steep steps that lead to Nam Kang, and enter another world - a world where tofu is not health food and where some of the most intriguing dishes are the ones that come free with the meal. The best thing to do is sit back and enjoy the ride. The restaurant serves Japanese, Korean and Chinese dishes, but the multipage menu, divided by cuisine, tells only part of the story. Shortly after we ordered, bowl upon bowl of Korean-style appetizers appeared. These were not listed on the menu and were given free of charge, and they ranged from fiery slices of bok choy to bland rectangles of tofu.

Tyler's Ultimate: Brilliant Simple Food to Make Anytime By Tyler Florence How to Boil Water: Life Beyond Takeout Meredith Books / 2006 / $24.95 Of the three, this book is the most fun and, if you don't know how to make a pot roast or a cheese risotto, has the most to offer. For my girlfriend, who had never used a cheese grater before we started dating, the book got her enjoying her time in the kitchen. Instructions, such as "smash, peel and mince the garlic," refer back to a "know-how" section that, in this case, deals with how to smash, peel and mince garlic.

Sadly, Rufus Wainwright did not show up for his interview wearing lederhosen. He does wear a pair in the booklet for his new album, Release the Stars, recorded in Berlin. But on a recent Manhattan afternoon, Wainwright appeared at a Korean vegetarian restaurant dressed in brown trousers, a V-neck sweater and a dark blazer. As he peeled down to a T-shirt, he inadvertently revealed the slightest bulge of a belly -- hence, perhaps, his light meal of seaweed salad, dumplings and a tofu roll, washed down by green tea. If You Go Rufus Wainwright plays the True Colors concert at Merriweather Post Pavilion, 10475 Little Patuxent Parkway in Columbia, at 7 p.m. June 17. $41-$126.

The Family Kitchen By Debra Ponzek Lunch Lessons By Ann Cooper and Lisa M. Holmes Collins / 2006 / $22.95 Take the title literally. Most of this book is devoted to treatises on the poor state of children's nutrition in this country, the dangers posed by junk-food marketing and the importance of local organic foods. More than halfway into the book, you'll come to the recipes, which are healthful, although not especially kid-friendly. It's one thing to entice the kids with the apple-nut bars and quite another to offer brown rice and tofu salad.

TO MY way of thinking, two of the most disturbing words in the English language have always been: vegetarian Thanksgiving. For me, it's not Thanksgiving dinner unless there's a turkey the size of a Mazda Miata in the middle of the table. And it's not Thanksgiving until everyone eats so much turkey and trimmings that they actually eat themselves into a state of semi-consciousness before staggering out to watch the football game on TV. As hard as it is to believe, there are people who don't share this particular point of view.