Our household favourite: Tofu Scramble

I usually make this dish every week. I tried something similar in a cafe once, and over the years have tweaked it to make it a household favourite. At first I thought the man of the house would think this was 'hippy food'. But he actually really enjoys it and is genuinely excited when he hears that is what's for dinner. I've cooked this for a lot of people, meat eaters and vegetarians alike and surprisingly it's always a hit. Even people who think they don't like tofu, find this pretty tasty. 

So if you're looking for a healthy, nutritious, quick and easy mid week meal that costs less than $15 to serve 4, this dish is the ticket. I love that this meal is on the table in 20 - 30 minutes, and I can source all the ingredients locally from the shops in my neighbourhood. 

I buy the flatbreads from the turkish shop around the corner (on my way home from work), a five-pack costs only $1.50, it comes in wholemeal or white, and you can get extra large for $2 if you prefer. While I'm there I often pick up a tub of their delicious home-made hummus for $3.50 - the hummus goes quite nicely on the side of the scramble too. 

I buy all my spices from the local indian dairies. Ground Turmeric, Cumin Seeds, Coriander Seeds, Mustard Seeds, Curry Powder, Sunflower Seeds, Pumpkin Seeds, Cashews, Almonds you name it. They also sell fantastic Samosa's and these other things which are like a toasted sandwich, but not. Imagine: two pieces of bread, but with samosa filling, then battered in a pakora style batter and deep fried. Yes, sounds wrong, but tastes so so good. 

The tofu and vegetables I buy at my local corner vege shop. They sell most supermarket items there so I often can avoid the chain supermarkets so long as I don't need anything fancy. Generally my vegetables are always cheaper from here and I'm less tempted by all the glitzy advertising and tempting treats of the countdown world. The tofu they sell is $3.50 a packet, which is 2 blocks of firm tofu. 

The only problem is, well actually it's kind of a good thing.... I don't actually follow a recipe. Every time I make this, I alternate the vegetables depending on what I have in the fridge, but generally you want something that has a soft texture, you want something earthy (spinach, zucchini, aubergine, coriander, green capsicum). You want something sweet like red or orange capsicum, tomatoes etc. (I added leftover cooked kumara once which was good too). Some acidity: Onion, spring onion, lemon juice. 

In the recipe below I've used what would be my most common variation of this dish, but feel free to play around with it, and remember to use the comments section at the bottom to let me know how you go. 

Ingredients 

• 400g firm tofu
• 1 tbsp cooking oil (any will do) 
• 1 tbsp mustard seeds 
• 1 tbsp cumin seeds
• 1 tbsp coriander seeds
• 1 tbsp turmeric 
• 1 tbsp curry powder
• 1-2 bunches of fresh coriander 
• 4 spring onions 
• 1/2 green capsicum
• 1/2 red capsicum 
• 2 handfuls of baby spinach 
• Juice of 1 or 2 lemons (depending how juicy they are!)
• 4 - 8 flatbreads (tortillas, pita, toast, even rice would work fine) 

To Serve

• 50g of Cashews, Sunflower or Pumpkin Seeds
• 1 tbsp olive oil
• A condiment or two: Avocado slices, Hummus, Feta, Chilli Sauce or Chutney. 

Method

When you get home, take the tofu from the packet and leave on paper towels to remove excess liquid. 

I prepare the veges first as it doesn't take long to cook. 

Chop the roots from the coriander, chop the roots and stalk as finely as possible, and set aside (reserve the leaves too). Slice the spring onion and capsicum into bite size chunks. 

Heat a frying pan add the oil and the mustard, cumin and coriander seeds. Stir and be mindful that the mustard seeds will start to pop and fly out of the pan. 

As this starts to happen add the slabs of tofu, sprinkle over the turmeric and curry powder. Using a fish slice roughly cut up the tofu slabs, mixing the spices into the tofu, once this is mixed in add the finely chopped coriander root and stalk. 

Keep stirring, add the capsicum and spring onion, cook stirring occasionally for a couple of minutes, if it gets too dry or looks like it is starting to stick, simply squeeze in some of the lemon juice. Finally add the spinach and coriander leaves and any more lemon juice. Stir till the spinach has wilted. 

On plates serve tofu on top of flatbread (or other). Using the same pan, heat remaining oil and add the seeds or cashews. Sometimes I use a combination, but pumpkin seeds is my favourite. Once toasted, sprinkle on top of the scramble and serve with any other condiments (Avocado slices and a sweet tomato chutney are my usuals). 

Enjoy

If you try this recipe, please place feedback below, I would love to know what you thought, and if you tried any variations.