Crispy Potato Squares and Tofu Scramble

Sunday, April 12, 2015 - Lunch
Crispy Potato Squares and Tofu Scramble (Recipe from Vegan Cooking for Carnivores by Roberto Martin -- Ellen Degeneres' & Portia de Rossi's personal chef)

This was a very satisfying post-run lunch, and it was fairly easy to make.  I enjoy tofu scramble whenever I order it at restaurants, so it's surprising that it has taken me this long to make it myself.  (Note: those who don't like tofu could easily substitute eggs for the tofu in this dish.)  I modified the tofu recipe slightly - it called for zucchini, red bell peppers, and asparagus, but I omitted the asparagus because it had gone bad in the fridge since I bought it last weekend.  The tofu scramble still turned out very well, just with fewer veggies.  

The potato recipe called for the potatoes to pre-soaked in hot water, then covered in Blackening Spice (recipe from Vegan Cooking for Carnivores by Roberto Martin) and fried in a little oil.  I also modified this recipe slightly - it called for peeled potatoes, but I like potatoes with the skins, and I hate peeling them, so I just diced the whole potatoes with skins.  The potatoes turned out very well.  Soaking the potatoes helped them cook fully without getting mushy (versus boiling), while not getting burned during the pan-frying process.  I will definitely use this method again for fried potatoes.  The blackening spice added some heat and crisped the outsides of the potatoes.  

The potatoes were much spicier than the tofu scramble, so I added Tabasco sauce (smoked chipotle flavor) to the tofu to balance the spice levels of the two dishes.  The potatoes and tofu complemented one another well, and I plan to mix the leftovers together and take them to work for lunch this week.