Friday, August 28, 2009

THE BEST SCRAMBLED TOFU!

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No, it's not really my recipe. It's my version of Julie Hasson's recipe, and we love it! It's not dry and almost tasteless like other tofu scrambles I've sampled. We have been eating very simply these days (between guests) and this recipe just seems to be the ticket when you want something quick, tasty, simple and versatile. Even my picky brother-in-law liked it!

I really like this recipe when made with medium-firm tofu pressed for 1/2 an hour in the Tofu Xpress gadget that I blogged about here, and Julie blogged about here. The tofu is firm, and yet has a silky texture that really "feels" like scrambled egg! UPDATE AUG 2012:  Recently I blogged about a new tofu press, larger capacity, handmade wood, that would work much better if you are using this recipe for a crowd. You can order it here, and read about it (with pics) here.


Medium-firm tofu pressed for 1 hour. (Update: I now press it for only about 1/2 an hour-- it's your choice!)

In the recipe below, I use 16 oz. of medium-firm tofu pressed for about 1/2 hour in the Tofu Xpress, which results in about 12 to 8.2 oz. firm, but smooth and silky, tofu. If you do not own a tofu press, you can find various methods on the Internet.  Here is a good one, but I don't think it's necessary to press for 24 hours, as it says!  You can see how much water is in the press in the picture above, and you should get as much out with a similar amount of pressing time using the method I linked to.


We had Julie's Tofu Scramble over steamed asparagus for dinner the other night-- very satisfying!


Cooking the tofu

Printable Recipe

MY VERSION OF JULIE HASSON'S YUMMY TOFU SCRAMBLE Servings: 2-4
Julie says, "I love to serve this scramble with toasted bread for breakfast, or with gravy and quinoa for dinner. Any way you serve it, Tofu Scramble is great anytime of the day." I agree!  We sometimes have it for dinner served over roasted or steamed asparagus, and sometimes I add strips of bell pepper, or a tablespoon of vegan "bacon bits" or chopped vegan "bacon" or "ham", or a bit of pesto, etc., to the mix.

4 teaspoons oil, divided
16 oz. medium-firm water packed tofu, rinsed and pressed for 20 to 30 minutes
 (see text above)
2 tablespoons nutritional yeast flakes 

1/2 teaspoon turmeric
1/2 teaspoon granulated onion (or onion powder) 

1/4 to 1/2 teaspoon granulated garlic
1 small onion,
 very thinly-sliced
Sliced mushrooms (I use about four 2-inch ones)
Optional: Freshly-ground black pepper
1 to 1 1/2 tablespoons soy sauce or tamari (can be low-sodium)

Mix the nutritional yeast together with the turmeric, and granulated onion and garlic in a small dish, and set aside.

Heat a medium to large nonstick, cast iron or hard-anodized aluminum skillet over medium-high heat.  (I use a well-seasoned spun carbon-steel wok.) Add 2 tsp. of oil so that the bottom of the skillet is very lightly coated. Break the tofu into small pieces and add them to the hot skillet. You can further break up any large pieces of tofu with a spatula. Let the tofu cook, stirring occasionally, until the tofu is starting to turn golden.

Sprinkle the nutritional yeast mixture over the tofu, stirring so that all of the tofu is coated.

Add 2 teaspoons more oil to the skillet, along with the sliced onion, mushrooms and garlic. Cook, stirring occasionally, until the onion is no longer crunchy. 

Sprinkle with pepper (if desired) and drizzle with the soy sauce, stirring until liquid is absorbed. 

Remove skillet from heat and serve the scramble warm, with toasted bread or hash brown potatoes, if desired.

Nutrition Facts
Nutrition (per 1/4 of the recipe): 99.3 calories; 52% calories from fat; 6.1g total fat; 0.0mg cholesterol; 235.0mg sodium; 277.6mg potassium; 5.5g carbohydrates; 2.1g fiber; 1.6g sugar; 3.4g net carbs; 8.0g protein; 2.1 points.

Nutrition (per 1/2 of the recipe): 196.2 calories; 52% calories from fat; 12.2g total fat; 0.0mg cholesterol; 319.9mg sodium; 547.1mg potassium; 10.7g carbohydrates; 4.2g fiber; 3.2g sugar; 6.5g net carbs; 15.8g protein; 4.1 points.


Enjoy!

5 comments:

veggievixen said...

yummalicious. i don't press my tofu often enough, but i haven't perfected it quite yet, since i don't have a fancy contraption like yours. thanks for the recipe though. tofu scramble is my favorite.

in2insight said...

Any suggestion for an alternative to nutritional yeast? I'm on a low acid diet and NY is at the "Very Acidic"end of my food guide.
Cheers!

Bryanna Clark Grogan said...

in2sight, I'm afraid there is no substitute for nutritional yeast, but I am puzzled as to why you are calling it an acid food. Many sources I can find on the subject says that nutritional yeast is alkaline-forming (for instance, this site:
http://www.successessentialsclub.com/Health or http://ph-n.com/01-alkaline-food.htm ). ( BTW, I don't endorse this diet.) On the other hand, other sources say it's very acid. (http://www.scribd.com/doc/3111062/THe-ALKALINE-TRUTH-CHART )

Still other sources say it's neutral or "slightly-alkaline! (http://www.essense-of-life.com/moreinfo/foodcharts.htm )

In a yahoo question "Is brewer's yeast acidic, neutral or alkaline?
And if it is, how acidic or alkaline is it?"

was answered by:
Best Answer - Chosen by Asker

It is an alkaline with a PH of about 10.
Source(s):
Chem major working on masters degree.
http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20071115043849AAFO1MX

(Not that I trust yahoo answers-- who knows who this is?)

This is why I don't agree with micro-managing diet like this, When different proponents of a supposedly similar diets give radically different information, I wonder if anyone is looking at the science!

Unknown said...

Bryanna-
Thank you! I so appreciate all the research you did on my behalf.
When nothing else seemed to work to cure a bad case of gerd, insuring that I eat at least 75% in alkaline foods did. I agree that there is so much debate and differences that it's hard to tell what is true and what is rumor.
Thank you again for being so awesome!

Matt said...

Yum! Looks good. I've also emailed that tofu press thing on to James as a hint for something he might like ;). I love a bit of soy sauce at the end of my scramble - makes it that extra bit delectable.