Tofu Scramble

I'm not really a morning person. I wake up early, sure, but I'm usually not too happy about it! I reach for a big mug of dark coffee in hopes that it warms not only my head but my hands as well. As I slowly thaw, my stomach starts rumbling and I'm ready for eggs! I could eat eggs for breakfast every day, plus an egg salad sandwich for lunch and maybe an egg with dinner when I have it over fried rice. That's a lot of eggs for one person! So, I try to eat eggs only at breakfast, but every day is still just too much. Oatmeal? Fresh fruit? Granola and yogurt? Nothing really gets me going in the morning quite like eggs for breakfast. Except tofu scramble. Say what?! Tofu for breakfast? Tofu that really starts your day off just like eggs would? I kid you not. This tofu scramble is so good, I sometimes prefer it rather than eggs! Plus, it is so packed with veggies that I automatically feel better starting my day off in such a healthy way. I make a batch at the beginning of the week and just reheat it as needed - it microwaves great! Healthier than eggs, easier to prepare, and yet just as tasty (maybe even tastier)... now that's something worth waking up for!

Tofu scramble comes together fairly quickly, so it's best to prep all of your ingredients before you get started cooking.

Grate the carrots and zucchini and chop your onions and garlic.

Squeeze the excess water from the tofu...

...and crumble it.

Now that you've got all of your ingredients ready, heat a large skillet with olive oil. Sauté the onion for about 3 minutes. Add the garlic, zucchini and carrots and sauté for another 3 minutes. Add the tofu and soy sauce and sauté for about 6 minutes.

Stir in the nutritional yeast...

...and then the spinach. Cook until wilted.

Dig in!

 

Tofu Scramble

2 T olive oil

1 white or yellow onion, chopped

2 carrots, grated

2 zucchini, grated

3 cloves garlic, chopped

16 oz extra firm tofu, crumbled

2 T soy sauce

1/2 c nutritional yeast

6 oz spinach

 

-Heat olive oil in a pan over medium high heat.

-Sauté onions until transparent, about 3 minutes.

-Add the carrots, zucchini, and garlic to the pan and sauté for another 3 minutes.

-Add the tofu and soy sauce and cook, stirring frequently, for about 6 minutes.

-Stir in the nutritional yeast.

-Add the spinach and cook until wilted.

-Season with salt and pepper.

Blackberry Cornmeal Pancakes

It's blackberry season here in the Pacific Northwest, and my hands have been stained dark purple for a couple of weeks now. I just can't help myself when it comes to the abundant wild berries that seem to grow on just about every trail, field, or even street corner. I love the idea of going for a hike and coming home with dessert... or breakfast in this case! These pancakes were such a hit that I didn't even get to take any pictures. Oh well, just make them and you'll see for yourself!

Blackberry Cornmeal Pancakes
1 egg
1/2 t salt
2 T canola oil
1 c flour
1/2 c cornmeal
3 t baking powder
1 T sugar
1 1/2 c milk
2 c fresh blackberries
butter for the pan

-In a large bowl, beat together egg, salt and oil.
-In a separate bowl, mix flour, cornmeal, baking powder and sugar. Add it to the egg mixture along with milk and stir just until combined.
-Fold in berries.
-Heat pan to medium and melt a pat of butter.
-Use 1/4 c of batter per pancake; flip once it starts to bubble and turn golden brown.
-Serve immediately with a little more butter and some maple syrup.

Feta Garlic Dill Cream Cheese

I love bagels!! I know, I know... bagels with cream cheese are NOT a smart way to start the day. No whole grains, barely any protein, no fruit or veggies - but SO good!! I just can't resist! There's just something about the crispy, crusty outside combined with the soft, doughy inside of a freshly baked bagel.

A toasted bagel smeared with cream cheese along with a big mug of coffee is my favorite way to start the day.

I don't really have much of a sweet tooth, it's more like a savory tooth! Everything bagels are always my first bagel choice, and I love it when the garlic, onion, sesame and poppy topping also has salt in it. That's right - kosher salt just like a soft pretzel. The salt is used sparingly to make the other flavors that much more savory, that much more delicious. This is where the feta comes in. I started out by sprinkling a little feta on my cream cheese bagel, and the salt in the feta was just enough to bring out the salt on the bagel; just enough to make all of those savory flavors sing. I used some dill to keep things light and fresh, and garlic... well, because it's garlic and you can't ever have too much garlic! This feta garlic dill cheese is also delicious on crackers - especially everything crackers! I also like to put a couple of spoonfuls into scrambled eggs. All of this talk about breakfast is making me hungry!

I have extra bagels and a French press pot of coffee... care to join me?

 

Feta Garlic Dill Cream Cheese

2 8 oz packages cream cheese, at room temperature

8 oz feta (in block form, not the crumbles)

4 garlic cloves, finely chopped

3/4 oz fresh dill (one small clamshell)

-Mix all ingredients. Chill overnight for all of the flavors to come together.