When I was checking out at Whole Foods, the cashier asked me, "So what are you cooking up for the blog today?" I'm there everyday, so I'm getting to know folks there. I'm becoming like Norm on Cheers.
I replied with a smile, "I am going to make a tofu scramble with onions, tomatoes, and chicken apple sausage."
The cashier responded with a confused look on his face which I was kind of expecting because I figured some thought like this was going through his mind, "That doesn't sound right, tofu scramble is usually a vegan or vegetarian dish?"
So, I told him, "Yeah I know it sounds kinda weird because tofu scramble is usually a vegan/vegetarian dish so to add chicken apple sausage seems contradictory."
He replied with relief, "Yeah, that's exactly what I was thinking!"
I explained to him that I have an allergy to cow milk and chicken eggs but meat is okay so I have to be creative with the breakfast dishes in creating an egg-like experience because I don't want to feel deprived. My philosophy too is that if something has the texture and taste (or very close to it) of something you want, is it really that big a deal what it's made from as long as you get a good experience?
He said that made lots of sense. I find it rather fun actually when I'm able to get someone to think differently about food.
Onto the recipe....
Extra firm tofu when crumbled has very similar texture and consistency to scrambled egg whites. The trick though is taste. Tofu in itself is bland and can be unappealing to meat eaters or egg lovers, so the trick is going to be seasonings.
For those who can eat eggs, you might want to try the tofu because compared to the egg, tofu does not have cholesterol nor saturated fats. One egg has about 6g of protein and 79g of tofu, roughly 1/2 cup, has 8g of protein.
Ingredients (serves 2 large portions):
- One container extra firm tofu - I used Whole Foods 365 Organic Extra Firm Tofu
- One chicken apple sausage cut into slices. Use two sausages if you want more meat - I got a sausage at the Whole Foods meat counter.
- 1/4 onion sliced
- 1/2 tomato cubed
- Two cloves of garlic
- Sea salt or Garlic Salt
- Garlic Powder
- Black pepper
- Olive oil
Let's get cooking:
- Heat a skillet pan to medium heat. Add about 1/2 tbsp olive oil and fry up the chicken apple sausage until it's cooked all the way through. When finished cooking, take the sausage out of the pan and set it aside on a plate.
- I like to use the same skillet to take advantage of the oil and fat left over from cooking the sausage to help give the tofu some flavor. You can wash the skillet out or use a new pan, if you'd like to start fresh.
- Add 1 tbsp of olive oil to the heated skillet, and saute the garlic and onions for about a minute until the onions start to get wet looking. Toss in the cubed tomato and continue to mix everything together for about another minute so the tomato can get soft.
- For 1-2 servings, you'll only need to use half of the tofu container. I like to use the other half to cook other dishes because I cook for just myself.
- Crumble the tofu into the pan so that you're basically eliminating all the square edges. Here is where you get a bit creative and crumble the tofu so it looks like scrambled egg whites. While mixing the tofu in the pan, it will crumble more, so be gentle when mixing.
- Mix the tofu in with the garlic, onions, and tomato, then add salt, garlic powder, and some black pepper. Again, gentle with the mixing because the tofu breaks down faster in the heat.
- The seasoning is going to be the tricky part only in that it depends on your palate. The nice thing about tofu is that it easily takes on any flavoring you put on it. I used about 3 shakes of garlic salt, 2 shakes of black pepper, and about 5 shakes from the garlic powder container as I like garlicky taste. If you like spicy, try cayenne pepper. For other seasonings, try oregano, Italian Seasoning, or Trader Joe's has a nice 21 Seasoning Salute that I like to use in cooking.
- Continue to mix everything together in the skillet for about 1-2 minutes. The tofu will start looking redish from the tomato. Toss in the chicken apple sausage, and mix in with the tofu, garlic, onion, and tomato. Heat for about another 30-0 seconds and you're done.
Enjoy!
