A couple of weeks ago my husband and I took my daughter Maggy’s challenge: to eat a plant-based diet for two weeks. During that time we would explore new ingredients and ways of cooking. We would also start to understand the ingredients we couldn’t live without.
Now that the experiment is over, what did we discover? We’re not giving up our holiday roast anytime soon and cheese is non-negotiable, but our eating life is definitely evolving towards a more plant-based diet.
Our family loves savory breakfasts, so I thought living without eggs, cheese, and the occasional breakfast meat would be hard. In the past I had tried scrambled tofu as an egg substitute, which I found underwhelming. A few mornings ago, though, I found tofu scramble in the Candle 79 cookbook that caught my eye, and I had enough ingredients to pull it off. My husband, David, and I were impressed with the dish’s texture and the flavor. Another plus–there were enough leftovers for a second breakfast.
The scrambled tofu recipe that follows is inspired by the Candle 79 recipe. Though this dish has not totally replaced scrambled eggs in our home, it has definitely become part of our regular rotation.
Scrambled Tofu With Sausage, Peppers, and Onion
For a little heat, add a minced jalapeño to the sautéing onions and peppers. Or just set out bottles of hot sauce with the finished dish.
*To massage kale, just put kale torn kale leaves in a bowl, drizzle with a few drops of olive oil and massage the leaves with your hand until they wilt and soften in texture.
- Yield: 4 to 5 1x
Ingredients
2 tablespoons olive oil
4 frozen veggie breakfast sausage patties (I like Morning Star)
1 medium-large onion, cut into medium dice
1/2 large bell pepper (any color), stemmed, seeded, and cut into small dice
1 container (about a pound) firm tofu, drained, patted dry, and coarsely crumbled
1 can (14 ounces) petite-diced tomatoes
1 tablespoon Earthbound buttery spread
1/4 cup chopped fresh cilantro
2 cups stemmed and torn kale, massaged*
Salt and ground black pepper
Instructions
Heat oil in a large skillet. Add sausages and brown following package directions. Remove sausages from skillet. Add onions and peppers; sauté until tender, 4 to 5 minutes. When sausages are cool enough to handle, cut them into small dice.
Add tofu and tomatoes to the skillet; cook until most of the tomato juice has evaporated, just a few minutes. Return sausages to the skillet, along with butter spread, cilantro, and kale. Continue to cook until dish is heated through and kale as wilted, a few minutes longer. Taste and season with salt and pepper. Serve.
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