vegan

Microwaving tofu can actually work in lieu of or in addition to pressing if you want to press it. Note that pressing tofu is not required; it is an optional step to modify the texture for certain preparations

Basically cut it up, put it on a paper towel, microwave on high for a few seconds. This will cause the proteins in the tofu to constrict and literally squeeze the water out

You can also heat it by pouring hot salted water over it, which basically does the same thing but also seasons the tofu and doesn’t require you to work in batches. The heat is doing the work, not the water, so you just need to blot the excess that is drawn out.

These methods aren’t as effective as a press of course but a press isn’t necessary to begin with

Anyway you can cook it more thoroughly in a microwave as well, 2-3m on high. This will heat it through. You can season as you see fit before or after

Tofu is a hard ingredient to give blanket recommendations at this point. It’s extremely versatile. The flavor of most american tofus are extremely mild, almost nonexistent. If you go to an Asian grocer you can sometimes get tofu with stronger flavor but even well made tofu still has a fairly mild flavor, to be fair.

The texture varies pretty drastically. Well drained extra firm tofu that’s been frozen and thawed can be used pretty handily as a meat substitute, especially if prepared in certain ways. Cutting into bite sized pieces/strips and frying it so the outer layer becomes desiccated and a bit chewy, for example. Cubing it is less “meaty” because you now have a fluffy interior inside the chewy fried exterior but this is good in its own right. How you marinate it obviously factors in heavily and tofu will accept marinades much more readily than meats, which typically only have marinades penetrate about 1/8-1/4” unless you inject them. This tends to be how a lot of new vegans and vegetarians dive into tofu.

You can also heat and crumble slightly softer texture tofus (firm or medium) and create something akin to scrambled eggs. You can puree soft or silken tofus and create puddings. Cube it and add it to simmered/braised dishes like mapo tofu (which can be prepared without pork)

But then there are more traditional preparations as others have mentioned where you take blocks and simply pour a sauce and herbs/peppers over them. These are simple and quite delicious.