D here, bringing you the first ever recipe on D&S.
Deciding on “The First Recipe” felt like a lot more pressure than it really was. Something about it being the very first recipe published made it feel like a crucially momentous decision. Surely, this will make or break the site! I mean: it’s going to set the tone for the entire thing. Build a building on a bad foundation and the entire structure will crumble, no matter how spectacular the architecture is! As soon as I hit publish, this will be the one and only recipe on the site. Which means it will solely determine who visits the site and who runs away from it as fast as they can! It has to be everything. It has to be completely original, healthy, easy, innovative, delicious, life-changing!
But then the quieter, sane voice in my head whispered to me…
It told me things like “you can never be all things to all people” and “the first recipe is still only one recipe”. (You’re so chill, quiet voice. Thanks, little buddy.)
So I started racking my brain for the times I’ve been asked to write a recipe down. Something that I make at home that I might not have thought I would need to create a recipe for, but maybe not everyone automagically knows how to make.
And this is what the big randomiser in my head landed on.
It’s definitely not original. Healthy, I would say. Easy, too. Innovative? Maybe 70 years ago when the first blissfully barefoot hippie had this miraculous vision for how to replace the scrambled eggs he (or she) missed in their plant-based life! Life changing? I guess that depends how desperately boring your life is.
Tofu Scramble has been part of my 20 year (and counting) journey in veg*nism since the very beginning. At first it came into my life in a small cardboard box. It was of the freeze dried, just add water sort of variety. It was definitely convenient, and it was good enough for what it was. It made it that little bit easier to transition to a diet completely free of all meat and eggs.
Then came the noughties, and the beginning of my cheffing career. I was working in the kitchen of a health food store, and every morning we were frying up the same staple breakfast options. Front and center for me was the Breakfast Burrito, and more importantly the Tofu Scramble on which the vegetarian one was based. (Ah, those were the days… when I could actually afford to buy something on my lunch break.)
As soon as I saw how easy it was to make Tofu Scramble from scratch using only a few fresh ingredients, I felt quite silly for ever having made it from sachets within a cardboard box. Of course, it tastes better, too!
Having said that, this is not a (directly) plagiarized recipe I would like to note. Well, it is, but it isn’t. I’m pretty sure Tofu Scramble has been around and part of healthy American diets since the 60’s, it certainly wasn’t new, original, or unique to that venue. It is made far and wide, more often than not with the same 5 core ingredients with only slight variation. The following recipe is just how I make it in my kitchen at home today. I have actually never looked for a recipe for it. And, I have a feeling (unless you’re a real stickler for instructions and fervent recipe-follower) after you’ve made this once or twice, you won’t need a recipe either!
It’s one of those vegan staples that I probably take for granted. I still remember the first time I made it for S. She liked it (and quickly grew to love it), but was quite insistent that what I had served her was “Dinner food”. It’s funny comparing the American and Irish idiosyncrasies and the meshed culture we’ve developed as a compromise in our home kitchen. Despite the inner irony of planning and preparing “Breakfast Burritos” for Dinner, it has been a staple favourite ever after.
Tofu Scramble
You will hear people stressing the importance of draining tofu before you prepare it… don’t worry about draining it for this recipe, though! The reason to drain the water out of the tofu is to make it very absorbent. This is an important step when you are going to marinate tofu or if you are going to be cooking cubes of tofu in a sauce. Letting the water drain out of it means it will readily absorb the marinade or sauce, infusing itself in flavour rather than diluting it! But, in the case of Tofu Scramble not only is the tofu really the only wet ingredient in the dish to start with, any excess moisture will cook off very quickly.
Ingredients
- 1 Tablespoon Extra Virgin Olive Oil
- 1 Sweet Onion, Diced
- 4 Cloves of Garlic, Minced
- 400g Tofu
- 1 Tablespoon Cumin
- 1 Teaspoon Turmeric (or about an inch of fresh Turmeric, grated)
- Salt and Pepper to taste
Directions
- Heat oil in a large pan over medium heat. Add the diced onion and the garlic. Sauté for five minutes, stirring occasionally. The onions will become transparent and some will begin to colour.
- Crumble in the block of tofu.
- Add the Cumin, Turmeric, Salt, and Pepper. Stir everything until the spices are evenly distributed. Continue cooking for a minute or two, or until it looks piping hot and delicious!
Use this Tofu Scramble anywhere people might use scrambled eggs… Include it in your “Vegan Full Irish Breakfast”, with toast for a light brunch, or my favourite; wrapped up in a tortilla with crispy potatoes, peppers, onions, avocado and plenty of hot sauce!
No matter how you plate it, nor what time of day you serve it, I hope you will thoroughly enjoy this recipe. Don’t forget the hot sauce!
