I’ve had a sore tummy for the last couple of weeks so I’ve been trying to cut down my wheat intake, which (unfortunately) seems to be helping it to settle down. Sob – bye bye Pasta Sundays for now! To be veggie and wheat-free requires a bit of creative thinking – and shows how me often I default to pasta or pizza – so I’ve been trying things I haven’t done before.
After having a Japanese stir-fry the other night, I used the leftover tofu to replicate a lovely garden scramble I had for brunch in San Francisco. As well as being an Asian mainstay, firm tofu is really good as a more substantial (and vegan) substitute for scrambled egg, and its bland creaminess works well with all sorts of other flavours, from Mediterranean to Indian.
I teamed it with the contents of my veg drawer, some leftover pesto and a squeeze of lime to make a delicious dish that took under ten minutes. You could sub the green veg for whatever you have: I used my favourite, samphire, because I spotted it in Waitrose (on the fish counter instead of veg aisle, natch), but it’d also work great with broccoli, green beans or peas. I also used an amazing fiery chilli pesto from Romeo Jones at Broadway Market but normal red pesto would work, with a sprinkle of chilli if you like it hot. I served it on a wheat (whoops) tortilla to bulk it up a bit, but actually found it made quite a filling supper on its own.
Ingredients
- 160g (half a pack) extra-firm or firm unflavoured tofu (Clean Bean is the best, if you can find it)
- 1 shallot
- 1 clove of garlic
- 5 chestnut mushrooms
- 3 sun-dried tomatoes
- Large handful of green veg: I used samphire, sugarsnap peas and spinach
- Tablespoon of red pesto
- Tablespoon of Greek yogurt
- Feta cheese
- Half a lime
Method
- Heat a wok with a slug of olive oil, and add the sliced shallot, crushed garlic and sliced mushrooms.
- Stir fry over a medium-high heat for 5 minutes, then add the chopped green veg and sun-dried tomatoes and crumble in the tofu.
- Give that 5 minutes, stirring, then add the pesto and yogurt. Turn the heat down and cook for a few minutes more to warm through the sauce.
- Serve on a toasted tortilla with a generous squeeze of lime and feta cheese crumbled over.
This looks SO good. I’m definitely going to try it. I’ve never cooked tofu before because I’m worried I’ll make a mess of it. My ex cooked some at home once and it was soggy and disgusting.
Yeah soggy tofu is no good! My advice is get the best you can find (try Planet Organic / Wholefoods or Asian supermarkets), get extra-firm as it won’t break up while cooking, and squeeze out any excess moisture in a sieve before cooking. Let me know if you make it!
This looks so good. It almost inspires me to stop being so lazy with my cooking :p
I’ve always been a bit scared of tofu but this makes me want to give it a try!
Yum! I’ll have to cook this soon. Have you tried making pasta with spelt flour instead of wheat?
No, I haven’t tried myself (I’ve bought readymade spelt pasta) as I heard it’s quite difficult – it makes a crumbly dough because there’s no stretch gluten to keep it all together! I might try buying some gluten-free flour to make pizza bases with though…