Easy Veggie Tofu Scramble! (With an intro to tofu :D)

SirenLilith
SirenLilith Posts: 3
in Recipes
Hello mfp members,

I am a new member here making her way on down the road to health and wellness. :)
I love to invent recipes and blog, so as sort of a "Hello!" to everyone I figured I would reblog a recipe I put up on tumblr this morning, an easy vegan breakfast tofu scramble which runs about 200kcals with 11 grams of protein, depending of what you add.

I've also included a short introduction to tofu, because tofu was scary to me once, too.


*Introduction to Tofu*

If you have never worked with tofu before there is no better place to start than at breakfast. Tofu is a very malleable and multipurpose source of protein for us non-meat eaters and makes a delicious addition to soups, stir-frys, salads…really anything you can dream up! The greatest thing about this deceptively plain substance is that it acts as a food sponge; literally absorbing all flavors it is introduced to.

When looking at a packet of tofu, you may at first feel confused. It’s a block. Do I eat the whole block? Why is it in water? Do I use firm, soft, extra-firm? etc.

In all my years of cooking for myself I honestly find Tofu to be one of the -easiest- foods to prepare and store. All you need to do is make sure the water it is sitting in stays fresh or you appropriately freeze it. For the purpose of this recipe I am using a fresh block.

To begin, puncture the plastic sheeting covering the tofu, I like to slice along three edges and tip the water out into the sink. You want to drain the container completely. Next, take a few paper towels or a clean dish-towel and fold them double thick, placing the tofu in the middle.

The object is to press water out of the tofu, as it is super absorbent I am sure you gathered it absorbed all the water it was sitting in! I generally take four paper towels, fold them double-thick, and then pull one 2paper towel portion over top and press. Apply medium pressure, being sure not to crumble the block if it is soft.

You can repeat as necessary if you feel one round of pressing didn’t completely remove the water. Once the water is pressed out your tofu is ready to use!

Easy, no? Not as scary as some people seem to think. :):flowerforyou:

Generally a serving of tofu is about 1/4-1/5 of a block, but it depends on how many you are cooking for and what you are making. When you have cut off what you need from the block be sure to store it in an air-tight container filled with water (the water should cover the block) and change the water every day if possible. In my experience with fresh water tofu will last about seven days. Sometimes I will dice the cube to save space and use a smaller container.

As for cooking it, you can prepare it as you would any other meat— in oil, to get a crispy outside. Steamed, to dip in sauces. Or…as I am about to show you…scrambled, like eggs!

Easy Vegan Tofu Scramble (serves 1 hungry person, amounts can be doubled to suit.)

1 tbsp vegan butter substitute (I use earth balance original) or oil for pan
1/4 a block of firm tofu, diced into cubes
1/4 a cup of diced red pepper
1/4 a cup sliced onions
Diced tomato or salsa to taste
1/2-1 tsp Turmeric
1 1/2 tsp Nutritional Yeast
2 tsp Tamari
3-4 mushrooms, sliced (optional)
Salt to taste
Handful raw spinach

You can also add vegan cheese or more veggies, as you prefer to. :) This is my basic recipe. “to-taste” is very non-specific but I certainly wouldn’t want to over or under salt something and have you go “blech!”

To begin, dice your veggies and prepare your tofu as stated above.

Place a small sauté pan over medium heat and pour your butter sub. or oil in, pushing it around to coat the bottom of the pan.

When the pan starts to faintly sizzle place pepper, mushrooms, onions, and any additional veggies you may have added to the mix into the pan, allowing to cook. After a few minutes, the onions should start to smell sweet and turn translucent.

Continue to cook, stirring, for an additional minute and then add your tofu cubes and tamari.

To get a ‘scrambled’ look, you want to break and stir the tofu, kind of ‘smashing’ it with your spatula and pushing it around the pan. You can optionally just leave the tofu cubed, it tastes the same. :)

Add turmeric, salt, and nutritional yeast and continue to cook tofu, stirring, until the ‘yellow’ of the turmeric is spread evenly.

Cook until tofu has absorbed any remaining liquid and do a taste test to see if it requires any additional salt or spice, add spinach to wilt, then remove from heat.

From here you can pile it on a tortilla with diced tomato or salsa, piece of toast, plate, or salad for a delicious and healthy breakfast!

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