Scrambled Tofu

mersaydees's Note:

A great recipe from Isa Chandra Moskowitz' book, Vegan with a Vengeance. The spice blend and lemon juice makes this explode with flavor! Isa says that if you don't have nutritional yeast on hand simply omit the water when cooking. Her cat Fizzle says, "Use a cast-iron pan so that you don't have to worry about scratching the pan to get all the good burnt bits." I use a non-stick pan, but am certainly willing to switch to the cast iron one once it's back in production at my house! Additionally, Isa says in its intro: "...feel free to add any finely chopped vegetables that you want to use up; add them when you add the mushrooms. Broccoli, zucchini, and cauliflower are all great contenders. The most important thig is that you get the texture right; you want it to be chunky. As you cook the tofu it will crumble more, so just break it into big chunks through your fingers right into the pan. This is a great tasting way to introduce a tofuphobe to the heavenly bean curd we all know and love."

• Total Time: 35 mins
• Prep Time: 20 mins
• Cook Time: 15 mins

Ingredients:

Servings: 4

• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 1 medium yellow onion, chopped into 1/2-inch chunks
• 2 cups cremini mushrooms, thinly sliced
• 2 -3 garlic cloves, minced
• 1 lb extra firm tofu, drained
• 1/4 cup nutritional yeast
• 1/2 lemon, juice of
• 1 carrot, peeled (optional, I grate it in at the end, mostly for color)

FOR SPICE BLEND

• 2 teaspoons ground cumin
• 1 teaspoon dried thyme, crushed with your fingers
• 1 teaspoon ground paprika
• 1/2 teaspoon ground turmeric
• 1 teaspoon salt

Directions:

1. Combine ingredients for SPICE BLEND and set aside until needed.
2. In skillet over medium-high heat, heat oil. Saute onions for 3 minutes, until softened; add the mushrooms, saute for 5 minutes; add the garlic, saute for 2 minutes.
3. Add the SPICE BLEND and mix it up for 15 seconds or so. Add 1/4 cup water to deglaze the pan, scraping the bottom to get all the garlic and spices.
4. Crumble in the tofu in big chunks and mix well, being careful not to crush it; use a lifting motion when stirring it around; you want it to remain chunky. Allow to cook for 15 minutes, stirring occasionally and adding splashes of water if necessary to keep it from sticking too much. Lower the heat a bit if you find that the tofu is sticking.
5. Add the lemon juice.
6. Add the nutritional yeast and mix it up.
7. If the mixture is sticking to the pan, add spashes of water. The moistness really depends on how much water the tofu was retaining before you added it.
8. Grate the carrot into the tofu mixture and fold.
9. Serve with guacamole and salsa and potatoes and toast and tempeh bacon.
10. VARIATIONS:.
11. Tofu Rancheros: Add 1 cup of salsa at the end, cook for 1 minute extra.
12. Asian-Style Scrambled Tofu: Add 2 tablespoons of minced ginger with the garlic, use peanut oil instead of olive oil, substitute shiitake mushrooms, and omit the thyme and nutritional yeast. Mix in 1 cup of thinly sliced scallions at the very end.

Reviews

[amydietrichmark]

This was fabulous! I didn't use any nutritional yeast and I substituted 2 tsp curry for the turmeric, just because it was what I had on hand. I also forgot to put in the lemon juice. But even with all that - they were great :) I will definitely be making these again.

[magpie diner]

This was my first time making this at home - have always enjoyed it out. I don't know why I thought it would be harder - cuz it's not! And these are pretty much staples so I can see whipping it up when you've got little time to cook. I thought the spice mix was bang on. Great idea making this with flavoured tofu - will try that next time. Made for Veg Swap 16 - nov09. Just wanted to add an update - I've tried 2 other versions of scrambled tofu since this, and neither lived up....this is my go-to recipe now. :)

[Wish I Could Cook]

This was really good and easy to make too. I didn't care for the cumin, so next time I'm substituting herbes de provence. The lemon juice and nutrional yeast provide a great combo of a little tang and a little savory that makes this just perfect.