People always ask me what I miss most being vegan. “Is it cheese?” they ask. Nope. “Meat?” “Butter?” “Pizza?” No…
The only thing I’ve really missed since going vegan (other than occasionally missing certain types of fish) is eggs! I loved a good sunny side up egg. And even though scrambled eggs were not my egg preparation of choice, they were special to me because they reminded me of weekend mornings with my family eating my mom’s famous scrambled eggs.
In fact, after I went vegan my 10-year-old niece asked me in total bewilderment, “Wait. So you’re not going to be able to have Nana’s scrambled eggs? Not even on Christmas?!”
The choice to forego certain foods in order to commit to a different lifestyle absolutely scares the shit out of some people. I get that. It scared me at first, but I learned pretty quickly that anything I once loved can be made into a vegan, healthy version. A version that won’t rip my stomach to shreds and will leave me feeling clean, energized and ready to take on the day!
That’s not to say that eggs ever really bothered my tummy a ton… unless they were made with oil. Then I was done for.
Anyway, I had never dabbled in making tofu scramble because for the last year or so I have been very caught up with trying to limit my soy intake. Breakfast to me meant green smoothies, granola, the occasional bowl of oatmeal and absolutely nothing else!
Last weekend nutritionist explained to me that there is nothing wrong with eating plenty of tofu in its pure form. It is a great source of protein for us veggie-lovers, and now that I’m training for a half marathon I can use all the protein I can get!
Then he gave me a fabulous recipe for tofu scramble. The first time I made it I seriously felt like there were scrambled eggs on my plate – but an animal-friendly, cleaner, tummy-happy version! I made them again this morning and tweaked the recipe a bit, and holy crap they were too good not to share.
Delightful Tofu Scramble
Serves 2 (if you’re serving 1, just cut recipe in half!)
Ingredients:
12-oz extra-firm tofu (WestSoy’s plain tofu is a nice option, GMO-free!)
¼ cup vegetable broth (or distilled water)
½ cup sliced mushrooms
1.5 cups spinach (or greens of your choice)
1 chopped bell pepper (I used a combo of red, yellow and green)
1 Tablespoon cayenne
OPTIONAL: 1 sweet onion (I did not use, because I do not like onion), a few dashes of Paprika (I did not use, because I thought the cayenne did the trick!), and a few cubes of lightly toasted tempeh (I threw some in from last night’s dinner!)
Directions:
1. Pour vegetable broth or distilled water into a saucepan over a medium-high heat. Let it simmer until it gets hot and starts to bubble.
2. Mash up your extra-firm tofu with a fork until it starts to look like a crumbly pile of scrambled eggs! This should only take a few mashes.
3. Pour in tofu, mushrooms, spinach, bell pepper, cayenne and optional onion, Paprika and tempeh.
4. Stir every few minutes, and let it simmer until everything is warm and the flavors have combined. I usually leave it in there for about five minutes.
Top it with anything fun, like hot sauce, Dijon mustard, or (if you’re one of those people who likes ketchup on their eggs…) a healthy ketchup!
I enjoyed my tofu scramble with a bowl of fresh fruit on the side, but feel free to eat it with some yummy sprouted grain toast or even wrapped up in a breakfast burrito! I think my next go round I will wrap it in an Ezekial sprouted grain tortilla. YUM!
Enjoy!