I’ve been running into a bit of a breakfast conundrum lately. I need to prepare breakfast for work so that I don’t pass out during dressing changes while in my plastic gown (i.e. sweat suit from hell) and I don’t have a lot of time or energy at 5:00am to cook up something hearty. I wake up with just enough time to thrown on the clothes I picked out the night before (hmmm, which blue top and bottom do I want to wear to work…so many endless fashion choices…) brush my teeth and grab my pre packed lunch from the fridge. Whatever I'm eating for breakfast needs to be ready in 5 minutes or less, preferably something I can eat in the car. If it’s something I’m not really into I won’t eat it. I also don’t do sweet breakfast things. That eliminates cereal, pancakes, waffles, oatmeal and so many other common breakfast foods. I also want it to be healthy. SO PICKY! I was content eating oatmeal with savory toppings mixed into it like cheese, scallions and ham cubes. But I’ve been eating that for the last 3 weeks. I need something new. That’s when I thought of my Dad.
At some point in my Dad’s life, either shortly before meeting my Mom or during their first years of marriage he was a vegetarian. I happen to love meat and will never become a vegetarian but I do enjoy eating Tofu. I can imagine while my Dad was a bachelor his cuisine didn’t stray far from what he eats at our house when Mom doesn’t make dinner. Essentially anything that will transport cheese and onions into his gut. Cheese and onion nachos? Cheese and onion rolled into a tortilla? Onion and cheese on Triscuits? Cheese and onion sandwich? All of the above and more. And lets not forget my Dad doesn’t finely dice or chop anything. Takes too much time and effort so these “meals” have HUGE hunks of raw onion. This is one reason why we would fight over who would sit next to Dad at school functions. He was always late and reeked of onion. As a kid Dad only made a handful of signature dishes. One of my favorites was his tofu scramble. It’s cheap, easy and pretty healthy. Dad would make us this scramble with onions and cheese with some celery tossed in. We would then coat it in ketchup, voila! I'm pretty sure Melissa and myself still eat this but the rest of the fam has tossed this recipe to the wayside. And when I say “recipe” it’s a pretty loose one with room for additions.
Dad’s Tofu Scramble
Firm Tofu, Drained
1 Small Onion Chopped
2-3 Stalks of Celery Chopped
Shredded Cheese
1 tsp. Cumin
In a pan on Medium heat cook up onion and celery with a tablespoon of water till them become soft and translucent. Take your block of drained tofu and crumble it in the pan. Heat through and sprinkle with cumin and cheese. Turn off heat and add lid to help melt the cheese. Done.
My variation:
I had just cooked up a couple of pieces of bacon for sandwiches so I just sautéed my onion and celery mixture in the bacon grease. My roomie comes from a family of farmers and her Dad dropped off the most amazing mushrooms I’ve ever eaten in my life. I sliced some of those and added them into my veggie mix. Once everything looked translucent I added the crumbled tofu. Seasoned with extra sharp cheddar and cumin. I like to top this dish (any everything else I eat) with hot sauce. YUMMMMMM!!!!!!
****side note****
These mushrooms are the best I've ever eaten, if this is some ploy for my roomie to kill me with poisonous shrooms, you can all start looking in my undigested stomach contents when the autopsy is performed for the cause of death.
At some point in my Dad’s life, either shortly before meeting my Mom or during their first years of marriage he was a vegetarian. I happen to love meat and will never become a vegetarian but I do enjoy eating Tofu. I can imagine while my Dad was a bachelor his cuisine didn’t stray far from what he eats at our house when Mom doesn’t make dinner. Essentially anything that will transport cheese and onions into his gut. Cheese and onion nachos? Cheese and onion rolled into a tortilla? Onion and cheese on Triscuits? Cheese and onion sandwich? All of the above and more. And lets not forget my Dad doesn’t finely dice or chop anything. Takes too much time and effort so these “meals” have HUGE hunks of raw onion. This is one reason why we would fight over who would sit next to Dad at school functions. He was always late and reeked of onion. As a kid Dad only made a handful of signature dishes. One of my favorites was his tofu scramble. It’s cheap, easy and pretty healthy. Dad would make us this scramble with onions and cheese with some celery tossed in. We would then coat it in ketchup, voila! I'm pretty sure Melissa and myself still eat this but the rest of the fam has tossed this recipe to the wayside. And when I say “recipe” it’s a pretty loose one with room for additions.
Dad’s Tofu Scramble
Firm Tofu, Drained
1 Small Onion Chopped
2-3 Stalks of Celery Chopped
Shredded Cheese
1 tsp. Cumin
In a pan on Medium heat cook up onion and celery with a tablespoon of water till them become soft and translucent. Take your block of drained tofu and crumble it in the pan. Heat through and sprinkle with cumin and cheese. Turn off heat and add lid to help melt the cheese. Done.
My variation:
I had just cooked up a couple of pieces of bacon for sandwiches so I just sautéed my onion and celery mixture in the bacon grease. My roomie comes from a family of farmers and her Dad dropped off the most amazing mushrooms I’ve ever eaten in my life. I sliced some of those and added them into my veggie mix. Once everything looked translucent I added the crumbled tofu. Seasoned with extra sharp cheddar and cumin. I like to top this dish (any everything else I eat) with hot sauce. YUMMMMMM!!!!!!
****side note****
These mushrooms are the best I've ever eaten, if this is some ploy for my roomie to kill me with poisonous shrooms, you can all start looking in my undigested stomach contents when the autopsy is performed for the cause of death.
RSS Feed
