Totally Tubular Tofu Scramble!

If I said you had the body of an all-natural, organic-living, animal-loving, environment-nurturing, whale-saving sex machine,
would you hold it against me? Please?
-Vegetarian pickup lines, via VegNews Magazine

Oh my goddess… I am in love with this breakfast. And this video:

Shit New Age Girls Say

Actually I love all the videos in this series, but making a tofu scramble for breakfast is something my five-years-ago self never thought I’d do, and makes me feel well on my way to becoming a New Age Girl.

Even worse, I’ve taken to adding kale to this scramble. KALE! I know, right? This is the green I’ve been seeing touted everywhere, and diligently avoiding. It’s bitter and thick and ruffly and way too nutritious to taste good. But in this scramble, it’s actually not half bad. So… baby steps.

I like to start out by sauteing whatever veggies I have on-hand. Current favorites for this scramble are kale, mushrooms, onion and garlic, but you can add in whatever veggies, herbs and spices sound good to you.

Next, I brown some extra-firm tofu, like so:

looks like chikkin

Then I mix it all up with a sauce of nutritional yeast (for cheesy flavor and a kickin’ dose of nutrients), cumin, thyme, turmeric, salt and pepper, and garnish with fresh tomato and avocado.

This scramble makes a hearty and satisfying meal any time of day. So get crazy, mix it up, and let me know what you think!

RECIPE – Tofu Scramble

Adapted from the Post Punk Kitchen
Serves 2 as a main or 4 as a side.

Sauce:
1/4 cup nutritional yeast
2 teaspoons ground cumin
1 teaspoon dried thyme
1/2 teaspoon ground turmeric
salt and pepper, to taste
3 tablespoons water

Tofu:
2-3 tablespoons neutral oil, divided
1/2 red onion
1 pkg mushrooms, chopped
2 cloves garlic, roughly chopped
3-4 leaves kale, torn into bite-size pieces
1 pound extra-firm tofu, drained

Garnishes:
1 roma tomato, diced
1/2 avocado, cubed
handful of sliced almonds

First stir the spice blend together in a small cup. Add water and mix. Set aside.

Preheat a large, heavy bottomed pan over medium high heat. Saute the onion and mushrooms for about five minutes, then add in kale and garlic and saute for another two minutes. Transfer to a bowl.

In the same pan, break the tofu apart into bite-sized pieces and saute for about 10 minutes, using a spatula to stir often. Get under the tofu when you are stirring, scrape the bottom and don’t let it stick to the pan, that is where the good, crispy stuff is. Brown the tofu as uniformly as possible.

Add the sauce and stir gently to incorporate. Add the veggies back into the pan and cook to warm through. Serve hot.

Post-Workout peanut butter-banana smoothie

Recipe source: Super Smoothies: 50 Recipes for Health and Energy

Everyone knows that food can be a great way to cure what ails ya, whether your ailments be physical or emotional. For the latter, we have a whole genre of much-loved cuisine dubbed “comfort food.” But for a lot of us, the act of cooking itself is therapeutic. If you read this blog regularly, you might have noticed a month-long hiatus between my last two posts. Life has been a lot busy and a little stressful lately, and I’ve greatly missed the therapy and joy I get from cooking as well as blogging. So with the one-year milestone of my blog come and gone, I hope to renew my commitment to this endeavor.

One of the additions to my life recently has been running. On March 13th, I participated in my first half-marathon in seven years, with my first time ever running a good portion of it. Taking up this hobby has meant a lot of new learning about my body and the sport. I’ve long been afraid of running because of friends’ horror stories of battered knees, but this time around, I’m loving the idea of the simplicity of running. Like my first love, yoga, running requires very little equipment (shoes, mat). You don’t need a fancy gym membership, fancy machines, a fancy outfit or even a fancy instructor. You use your body to work your body. It’s a great way to get fresh air and get moving, especially for an office worker like yours truly, and an opportunity to get out of my head and into the immediate responses of my physiology. Doing it well (aka not hating life) means listening to my body and giving it the right kind of fuel to burn.

Of course, the best thing about running is stopping running! After 6+ miles, eating is a fabulous experience. This smoothie is a favorite for a quick nutrient replacement while I prepare something more substantial, like a sandwich. It’s high in protein, gives a little sugar, as well as potassium to heal muscles.

And don’t worry, this smoothie is delicious even when you’re not working out!

RECIPE – Post-Workout Smoothie
(dubbed The Incredible Hulk in my recipe cards… eh… not so much)

1/2 cup soft silken tofu
3/4 cup low-fat milk
2 tablespoon creamy peanut butter
2 frozen bananas, sliced
1 teaspoon honey
dash of cinnamon

Combine the tofu and milk in a blender. Add all the remaining ingredients. Blend until smooth.

Makes about 2 1/2 cups; serves 2

Per serving:
Calories – 287
Cal from fat – 110
Saturated fat – 3g
Total fat    – 12g

Protein – 11g
Carbohydrates – 39g
Fiber – 4g
Cholesterol – 7mg