Quick Curried Tofu Scramble

Tofu is an ingredient that many omnivores shun, yet many vegans adore. I admit I had NO clue to what to do tofu the first time I made it. It was 1999 and I actually tried marinating some in red wine with garlic and olive oil. It turned out and pink, jiggly and burnt. Well, those days are a dim memory, but there is a lot to learn about tofu. If you are new to tofu, you must learn how to treat it right, that's all. And you must learn which tofu is good to use for which application. But one recipe that is really hard to mess up is a good tofu scramble. No marinating is required, and you can use up some vegetable odds and ends in the process of making a filling and fantastical breakfast! Or dinner. We'll talk about other tofus soon, promise. But for now, we must scramble!

Tofu, Vegetables, Toast. Tasty.

Tofu scramble can be made with firm tofu, extra firm tofu, super firm tofu, extra super firm tofu....but NOT silken tofu. NEVER silken. You will always use a tofu that is in a plastic tub or that is completely wrapped in plastic, never in the aseptic container. Personally, I like any firm-ish tofu in a scramble, but I mainly buy super firm tofu, because it is versatile and is more dense and chewy. You may wonder about the need to press tofu for a scramble. I think it's not necessary, since I add water to help mix the spices in....and since the scramble doesn't need to stay together like a tofu "steak" would, pressing isn't required. The other great thing about super firm tofu is that I never press it - in fact, I haven't pressed tofu in years.

The other choice you have with scrambles is whether you like to crumble or cube your tofu. I usually cube, but today I crumbled. Call me crazy. It looks very eggy when you crumble. Here's how I made our scramble this morning.

1 medium onion, chopped or sliced
1/2 package extra-firm tofu
leftover steamed kale, chopped. however much you've got - or fresh spinach
1 large carrot, grated
1 teaspoon garlic granules
2 teaspoons Indian curry powder
1 teaspoon chopped chives or cilantro
2 tablespoons nutritional yeast
1/2 to one cup water
2 tablespoons soy sauce or Bragg's

Spray olive oil in a large non-stick skillet (or cast iron, but use a bit more oil.) On medium-high heat, saute onion until it starts to brown. Next, add your tofu, either crumble it right over the pan or toss in your cubes. Let it brown for a couple minutes, stirring periodically.
While the tofu browns, get your spices. Add the garlic, curry powder, chives or cilantro and nutritional yeast. While mixing that in, add some water, depending on how dry your pan is. If there is a lot of moisture, don't add much or even any, but if it's dry, add water to help incorporate the spices. Add the Bragg's, then let it cook for few more minutes.
Add the leftover veggies and warm through. Eat with toast or tortillas or whatever you like.

The curry powder made it yellow - tumeric does the same thing.

This scramble could have easily had spinach, tomatos, cauliflower, broccoli - you name it. It could have been flavored Italian style, with basil and oregano - or Mexican with cumin and coriander. But I happened to have these veggies right there, ready to rock. And curry sounded good! This took less than 10 minutes to throw together. Josh changed the flat on my bike while I made breakfast, we ate, and then we were off to work!