Tofu Scramble
The heatwave that we have been experiencing over the past week has made for a lot of outdoor time mainly spent at the playground in the park adjacent to Little Boy Green’s Montessori. We have been finding comfort under leafy trees and digging for worms in moist soil. The littler dude finds the experience very exciting and his older brother is particularly jubilant at being able to play outside without the many layers needed to stay comfortable while zooming around on his bicycle. The usual after school snacks have become more of an event with parents spreading sheets over the cool grass under the umbrella of trees and laying out of all sorts of tasty treats for the children to share. This communal gathering is the social experience I have been wanting for my children to enjoy as it reminds me more of my upbringing. It sounds a little extreme, but it feels that we are too often tolerating the weather rather than enjoying it.
Because of the collegial atmosphere surrounding the after school picnics (now an event rather than a make-do banana or bread stick) I have felt that I should up my game and contribute something that is child friendly and that does not come out of a package. Today I am taking a tofu scramble that I made for myself this past week as a quick and filling lunch.
Tofu scrambles are somewhat of staple in the plant-based world, and can seem somewhat passe and not too exciting. I get it, tofu is often not prepared as it should be, is a token filler in meals and because it is a soy byproduct, can have a bad rep. This is a shame because tofu can be very tasty, it is extremely nutritious when not too processed, is very versatile, does a great job at adding texture to meals and carries flavours very well. More often than not, we use plain extra firm tofu as the boys can eat it right out of the box and we can adjust any seasoning to their palate.
Below is the recipe I used when preparing it for myself, it is a little more grown up in flavour, but doesn’t mean that children will necessarily turn it away. To adjust it more to my children’s liking I will use less turmeric and omit the tamari and replace with a bit of soya milk and a small pinch of salt. My children aren’t too keen on onion, but love garlic, so I will replace the spring onion with more garlic. I enjoyed mine on a thick slice of toasted sourdough which can easily be replaced with some pita bread or a wrap (breakfast burrito anyone?), but I’m sure Toddler Green with eat his with a spoon. The scramble is delicious warm out of the pan, but is also quite tasty at room temperature or cold.
As with the majority of recipes that we post, measurements are indicative rather than exact and the ingredients are suggestions. Our tofu comes prepackaged in 280g, more or less shouldn’t make too much of a difference. I also like using tamari for the flavour of the brand that we use, but soya sauce is an easy replacement.
Ingredients: (serves two hungry adults)
280g of extra firm tofu
2 spring onions
1 lage garlic clove
1/2 large red bell pepper
1 tbsp olive oil
1/2 tsp turmeric powder
1 tbsp tamari or soya sauce
Small handful of fresh coriander
Hot sauce, salt and pepper to taste
Method:
In a large mixing bowl, crumble the tofu with your hands and mix in the turmeric powder.
Dice the red pepper, spring onion and garlic and add to a pan with the olive oil and gently sautee to soften. Roughly 5 min.
Add the crumbled tofu and the tamari to the pan and stir to combine over a medium heat for a further 5 minutes. remove from heat, add the coriander and serve. If like us you are not using a non-stick pan then you’ll need to scrape the bottom of the pan as you stir, but these are the best bits!
