Tofu scramble

It's good to be back in the kitchen now that my September traveling is over.  I'm looking forward to posting a blog entry about all of the amazing vegan food we found on our trip.  But for now, a little post about the tofu scramble I just made.

A tofu scramble is like a stirfry in that it there are several necessary components, and each component can be varied almost endlessly.  For a stirfry meal there's protein (tofu, tempeh, etc.), vegetables (any kind you want), sauce (the sky's the limit) and some kind of starch (rice, noodles, quinoa, etc.). 

For a tofu scramble the components are tofu (of course), liquid, seasonings, and whatever else you find in the fridge or pantry.  I started by sauteeing two cloves of crushed garlic in a little margarine.  Then I opened a package of extra-firm tofu (Whole Foods brand) and drained it by squeezing a lot of the liquid out in the sink.  Some people are really into pressing the liquid out of a block of tofu by wrapping it in towels and putting a heavy book or pan on top of it until as much liquid as possible has been squeezed out, but it's not that big a deal to me.  If I end up with too much liquid I just siphon it out of the pan with a turkey baster.

Then I crumbled the tofu in my fingers and added it to the pan with the sauteed garlic.  It's easy to over-crumble the tofu so that you end up with a very mushy scramble.  I prefer to break it up into pretty big chunks initially, then let it break up further during the cooking/stirring process.

Then I added some flavoring - splashes of tamari and pinches of salt, pepper, celery salt, onion powder and turmeric - and sauteed another minute or two to get everything integrated.  Then I added the other ingredients I had on hand - sliced mushrooms, a diced red bell pepper, and fresh chives from my kitchen garden.  A few more minutes of sauteeing, along with periodic tasting and addition of more seasonings, and I had this yummy scramble.

This dish is fast and easy, and infinitely adjustable.  You can use Italian seasonings like oregano, garlic and basil, or Mexican seasonings like adobo seasoning, chiles and lime juice, or Indian seasonings like cumin and curry powder; and you can throw in whatever vegetables and fresh herbs you want.  If you're using harder vegetables you may want to pre-sautee or steam them before you start cooking the scramble so that you don't end up overcooking your tofu while you're waiting for the veggies to soften up.