When I used to live in the Broad Ripple neighborhood of Indianapolis, my favorite Sunday morning breakfast was the tofu scramble at Three Sisters Cafe.  You could pick from a number of vegetable add-ins, but I always went with spinach and avocado.  In addition to my genuine love for both of them, it always gives me a happy feeling inside to eat something green.  Green is good.

Don’t think of tofu scramble as a substitute for an egg dish.  I promise, with the right spices, it’s actually tastier.  I used Isa Moskowitz’s recipe as a point of departure but made some modifications.  I actually really dig the taste of nutritional yeast, but you can try substituting cornmeal or cornstarch instead, or leave it out entirely.

Serves 2:

Ingredients:

  • 7 oz. extra firm tofu (about half of a standard-sized package — no need to drain and press for this recipe)
  • 2 shallots, chopped
  • about 1 T olive oil or some other cooking oil
  • 1 small red bell pepper, chopped
  • 4-5 button mushrooms, thinly sliced
  • 1 cup packed fresh spinach leaves
  • 1/4 cup lemon juice (the juice of about one lemon)
  • 1/4 cup nutritional yeast
  • 3 tsp cumin
  • 1 tsp dried thyme
  • 1 tsp tumeric
  • 1/2 tsp mustard powder
  • pinch cayenne pepper (some red pepper flakes would also work here to add spice)
  • 1/2 tsp salt (more or less to taste)
  • 1 ripe avocado, sliced
  • freshly ground pepper to taste

To make:

  1. Heat oil in a skillet on medium high heat.
  2. Add shallots and stir, cooking for about three minutes, or until they begin to soften and brown.
  3. Add red bell pepper and mushrooms; stir, cook for about 2 minutes more.
  4. Add the spices (cumin, thyme, tumeric, mustard powder, cayenne) and stir very briefly, then splash some water into the pan.
  5. Add in the tofu by crumbling it with your fingers.  Stir well.  Then add the spinach and stir some more.
  6. Cook for about 7-10 minutes, stirring frequently and adding splashes of water if the tofu starts to dry out or stick.  BUT: be careful not to add TOO much water — I’ve done this and it results in soggy, soupy tofu.
  7. Stir in the lemon juice and and nutritional yeast.
  8. Serve immediately with avocado slices and freshly ground pepper.