I was tempted to call this recipe, “Tofu You Can Actually Eat,” since it’s been a quest of mine either to (1) avoid tofu altogether or (2) try to make it taste good. For a long time, I thought “tasty tofu” was an oxymoron, a contradiction in terms. How do you flavor drywall joint compound? Well, call me lucky, but I finally made tofu taste good. Really good. So another possible title for this recipe might be “Tofu Taste Secret.” This is another quasi-vegetarian recipe, since it is meatless and includes only eggs. The health food aspect is not my fault, though, since it just turned out that way. So healthy. Oooohh.
The ingredient quantities listed here make enough Tasty Tofu Robaire to serve four as a side dish, and perhaps two or three as a main dish, since people will be asking for seconds. (Seconds for Tofu? Get real, Buddy. No, I am serious. This dish is not just edible; it’s actually delicious.)
Preparation time is about 25 minutes.
Ingredients
- One 14-ounce package of firm tofu
- 2 eggs
- 1/4 cup sun dried tomatoes
- 1/2 cup marinated artichoke hearts
- 3 fresh garlic cloves or 1 teaspoon chopped garlic
- 1/2 cup chopped green onions
- salt and pepper
- olive oil
Preparation
Remove the tofu from the packaging, draining out the water. Slice the tofu brick into small pieces, about 1/4 inch squares.
Chop the onions into small, macaroni sized pieces.
Optionally, chop or slice the sun-dried tomatoes into quarter inch squares.
Put the eggs, garlic cloves, and artichoke hearts into a blender and blend until artichoke pieces are a consistent size. This usually requires about 20 to 30 seconds.
Cooking
Pour a drizzle or so of olive oil into a large frying pan and turn on the heat. Saute the onions and tomatoes. Then add the tofu and continue the saute.
Next, pour the egg-garlic-artichoke mixture over the tofu. Add salt and pepper (just a few shakes of each).
Cook uncovered, stirring occasionally to be sure the tofu gets coated with the other ingredients. If you have other duties to take care of, turn the heat to medium low or low and cover the pan with a lid or aluminum foil. The dish can take care of itself for a few minutes. Cook until the liquid has cooked away and the egg is cooked completely. Approximate time is ten to fifteen minutes, depending on the heat level.
Place in a dish, or serve on a bed of lettuce, and enjoy.
Variations
You can stretch this dish or its leftovers by adding one of the following: bean spouts, rice, or green beans. Because this is such a high protein dish, you could also stretch or cut it by adding cooked salad macaroni.
For upscale company, press servings into a small bowl and invert onto a plate covered with lettuce or purple kale. Sprinkle a bit of paprika on the top of the molded tofu. Embed a slice of fresh tomato in the top as a decoration.
Tips for the Inexperienced or Hurried
For the inexperienced, take heart because there is nothing to harm here. The ingredients are sturdy. As long as you make sure the eggs get cooked thoroughly–they will look like scrambed eggs–you can’t really overcook or undercook the other ingredients if you are using a medium or medium low heat and paying even half attention. This is a great recipe for novice cooks because it’s easy and dramatic and delicious.
If you are really in a hurry, you can use garlic powder and onion powder in place of the garlic and onions. For eat alones, you can prepare a large batch of this, say a double recipe, and enjoy the leftovers all week. As dramatically good as the taste of the fresh batch is, the taste on the second day is reported to be even better.
Serve With
Tasty Tofu Robaire has the nutrition (lots of protein) to work as a main dish. But it will go great as a side dish with steak. Serve with fruit and cheese as an appetizer suite. Serve with vegetables (string beans, zuchini, or–amusingly enough–French fries) for a rounded meal.