Today I feel like I am trying to channel my inner Yotam Ottolenghi – my flavour, food styling, all round food hero!
I am collaborating with a friend on a project which involves a gluten free dairy free breakfast. I have added my own challenge to this by deciding it was time to make friends again with tofu and hopefully make some new converts along the way. I have definitely spent the week pondering my breakfast, wanting it to be something I would want to eat – and eat again – and be good enough to share with you… I am also hoping for my breakfast tofu to be a contemporary adaptation, not a fringe dwelling remnant of the sixties or a meal more reflective of other cuisines and cultures.
So I sit here eating my breakfast at 1 o’clock on a Sunday afternoon in food heaven – (disclaimer -I did have a first breakfast so that is not just a matter of pure hunger!)
This is a great cafe style comfort food combo which – I think – doesn’t involve quirky ingredients or time consuming procedures. It is simple to make for one person or easily extended to cater for a crowd.
Like similar egg dishes – seasoning is the key, so think about and taste the tofu while adding the salt and pepper. The asparagus and tomatoes are both umami rich vegetables and worked amazingly to bring this together, and when teamed with my seedy nutty daily bread, it made for a substantial and satisfying breakfast, brunch, or maybe even as today lunch.
CAFE STYLE SCRAMBLED TOFU BREAKFAST
Amounts for one serve – multiply to suit the number of people you would like to serve.
Ingredients
- 1/2 a block of good quality firm tofu – well drained on a clean towel (approximately 150 grams per person)
- 1 small clove of garlic slivered.
- 2 Tablespoons roughly chopped herbs – I used a mix of dill and parsley
- 1 teaspoon of whole cumin seeds.
- Zest of 1/4 of a lemon.
- Optional – Freshly chopped red chilli or a pinch of chilli flakes.
- Large pinch of Turmeric.
- Salt and Pepper.
- Olive oil or your choice of high heat happy oil.
- 3-4 spears of asparagus or if it is out of season or favour you could use avocado or broccoli/broccolini.
- 1 tomato cut into three or four slices.
- A slice of your favourite bread. I used the bread in my recipe on my blog My Daily Bread
Start by assembling and preparing all of your ingredients.
Heat two pans, one for the tomatoes and tofu and another for the asparagus.
Slice your Toast and have it ready in the toaster (Make sure to warm your plates) – if making this for one person as I was, it worked well to put the plate you will serve it on, on top of the toaster to warm.
Place your well drained Tofu in a bowl and gently mash using a potato masher or fork to just break into clumps. Season it well with salt and pepper and add a large pinch of turmeric – don’t be tempted to add too much Turmeric as it does have quite a strong flavour.
Taste a small amount to check your seasoning now.
Start the cooking by adding a glug of oil to the pan you will cook the tofu in and then add your sliced tomato and season lightly.
Lightly oil and season your asparagus and add to the other pan ( I love the markings given by my old ridged pan, but any grill pan will be great and of course you can simplify my method and use one large pan to cook everything in at the same time).
You can turn your toast on to cook now.
Next, add the cumin seeds to the pan with the tomatoes and wait until you see them start to sizzle. Now add your garlic and again wait a moment until you see it start to sizzle. Finally add your lemon zest, herbs and chilli.
Bring this all to a sizzle for just a moment – watching closely to ensure the garlic doesn’t burn!
Finally add the tofu and very very gently stir it to fold through the aromatic herb mix (leave the tomato cooking to the side).
Lower the temperature and cook so the tofu is heated and the aromatics are evenly folded through.
All going to plan (good luck there) this should all come together at about the same time and can be plated and be ready to eat straight away. Obviously I messed about taking photos and then went back to make a coffee to have with it, but because my plate was warm and I put it back on the toaster while I made the coffee it was still delicious, so I can vouch for the fact that it will hold for a while once cooked.
I hope you will give this a try and enjoy my slightly Mediterranean take on tofu.
