Cast Iron

Tofu Scramble & Advice for a Picnic

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June 28, 2012
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Tofu Scramble & Advice for a Picnic
  • Serves 2-3
Author Notes

The very first thing I should say is that Tofu Scramble is not supposed to be eggs; it is supposed to be tofu, scrambled. That said, it is lovely for breakfast, especially in the winter when hens lay far fewer eggs and decent ones can be hard to come by. This scramble is essentially a variation on a recipe for ‘Stedda Scrambled Eggs' (honest!) from a wacky cookbook I believe was culled from the deep, dirty bins at the Southie Goodwill – where you could buy hardcover bestsellers for 2 bucks, before they came out in paperback – thanks to a total lack of competition, and the absolute lack of appeal of said deep, dirty bins. This book is called The American Vegetarian Cookbook: From The Fit for Life Kitchen and it is a riot. I totally thought it was a throwback, leftover from the healthfood craze of the 1970?s, but when I finally looked at the copyright, I was shocked to see the 1990 publication date. I have probably owned it since about then, and it has always looked like it has been living real hard since 1973.
—threefresheggs

What You'll Need
Ingredients
  • Tofu Scramble*
  • 1 tablespoon olive or grape-seed oil1
  • 1 pound extra firm tofu (preferably pressed), thick sliced, and dried of excess water
  • 1 heaping tablespoons nutritional yeast
  • 1/4 teaspoon turmeric
  • 1/4 teaspoon cumin
  • 1/4 teaspoon curry powder
  • 1/2 teaspoon granulated garlic (just do it)
  • Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
  • 1/2(ish) cups pureed tomato (Ideally, a large fresh plum tomato blitzed with the hand blender, but do what you must)
  • 1/3 cup crumbled feta (I like Bulgarian)
  • 1/4 cup scallion, sliced fine
  • Curried ‘Egg’ Salad with Avocado, Wrapped
  • 1 recipe 1 recipe Tofu Scramble, cooled (if you know this is where you are going with it, you may want to kick up the spice a bit)
  • 1 large avocado, peeled, seeded, cut in a large dice
  • 1 handful burrito sized flour tortillas (4-6?)
Directions
  1. Tofu Scramble*
  2. In a small prep bowl, combine the nutritional yeast, turmeric, curry powder, cumin, garlic, salt & pepper. Set aside.
  3. Heat the oil in a large cast-iron (or other heavy, well-seasoned) skillet over medium-high heat. When the oil begins to shimmer, crumble in the tofu (mashing with a potato masher is also nice), and sauté, stirring frequently, until you get a little golden color here and there. Sprinkle in the spice mixture and stir until throughly coated.
  4. Pour in the tomato puree, things will boil, sizzle and the pan will deglaze. Continue cooking, stirring constantly until all of the liquid has been absorbed or evaporated.
  5. Reduce heat to medium-low, and add the feta, stir to mix and melt. The feta should be melted away into the ‘sauce’ and disappear completely, this will only that a minute or two. Toss in the scallion, stir to incorporate, remove from heat. Taste. Season with additional salt and pepper if needed.
  6. *For your picnic, the really brilliant use for this scramble is:
  1. Curried ‘Egg’ Salad with Avocado, Wrapped
  2. Make the filling: In a large bowl, gently combine the avocado pieces and the tofu scramble. Season to taste with salt and pepper, you might also like some additional feta.
  3. Wrap the filling in the tortillas, burrito-style, closing both ends. Fix with toothpicks, placed roughly to mark out thirds. Cut the wraps crosswise, in half, on a slight diagonal at the middle.
  4. Pack in wax-paper baggies, two halves per, folded over at the ends and held with a bit of kitchen twine or a pretty-colored small elastic, of the type used for bundling herbs and scallions. Pack sweetly in your favorite basket lined with a pretty kitchen towel.
  5. Voilà!
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