Recipe 1: Scrambled Tofu with Mushrooms and Peppers

I decided to go meatless for the month of May and am a carnivore by nature, I purchased some additional cookbooks to help me get started working with foods I'm not too familiar with.  I have to admit I was scared at the prospect of working with soft tofu and have only had it once while dining at a Chinese restaurant.  I didn't like the dish because of the texture, but decided to give soft tofu a second chance.

Today's recipe is courtesy of  The Tofu Book by John Paino and Lisa Messinger, p. 125. I've never heard of either person, but when I read the back cover, I discovered John Paino was the co-founder and past president of Nasoya Foods, which I found to be a bit spooky since I used Nasoya soft tofu because they offered a coupon and I'm on a strict budget.

Below is the recipe with my notes and adjustments.

Scrambled Tofu with Mushrooms and Peppers 

1 medium onion, diced

1 tsp light or dark sesame oil (note:  I used toasted and I used approx 1 tbsp)*

8 medium mushrooms, sliced 

1/2 green or red pepper, diced*

1/4 tsp sea salt (I used 1 tsp)*

1 lb soft tofu*

1/4 tsp tumeric

1.  Heat oil in nonstick pan. (Note: My personal observation - 1 tsp of oil is too little even in a non-stick pan and am amazed at people who can use only 1 teaspoon of oil for sauteing)

2. Saute onion till translucent or about 4 minutes.

3. Add mushrooms, peppers and salt and saute till peppers are soft or approx 5 minutes. (Note:  1.  I sauteed until the mushrooms released all its liquid because it is much easier to see when a mushroom goes soft than a red pepper; 2).  I think diced red tomato would make a great substitute for the pepper; and 3) I used a whole teaspoon of salt because I like salt and there are a lot of veggies in the pan).

4.  Add soft tofu to pan and crumble with back of wooden spoon.  Once tofu is crumbled, add turmeric and saute for about 8 minutes. (Note:  I didn't crumble tofu with back of wooden spoon.  I removed the tofu from package, patted it dry with paper towel and then used hands to crumble the tofu to achieve a better consistency of the crumbles.)

Opinion:

After I got over the initial shock that I wasn't eating scrambled eggs, I enjoyed it.  I'd make again, but would probably try with diced tomatoes since I'm not a huge pepper fan.  I also discovered that the recipe stated it serves 4, but if it is the only thing you're eating, it really only serves 2.