my new favorite meal.

today on facebook and twitter, i asked what i should blog about tonight because i was fresh out of ideas. right around thursday the creativity kind of fizzles.  a lot of you replied with some AWESOME ideas. i had a few types of posts brainstorming in my head to type out tonight.

that was, until, i ate my dinner. and realized that i had to devote an entire post to what is now my new favorite dinner.

there is a vegan/vegetarian diner here in salt lake city called vertical diner.

anyone ever been? it has breakfast, lunch and dinner and it is absolutely delicious! marshall and i go there with our vegan buddies quite often. heck, marshall and i go there without our vegan buddies. this place is beyond delicious.

anyway, they have something called “the mountain” which features peppers, onions, hashbrowns and the key ingredient: tofu scramble.

several of the items on vertical diner’s menu are sold at cali’s natural foods—a market owned by the same people (they also own sage’s café). i will have to take my camera to cali’s market sometimes so i can blog about this place. let’s just say they have bulk bins of everything from amaranth to xanthan gum. if you live in utah you must check it out—their bulk bins are dirt cheap. it is located on about 350 west and 1700 south and they are open saturday through monday.

okay, enough about cali’s market—let’s get on to talking about my new favorite dinner. like i said, the star ingredient is the tofu scramble.  wanna know what’s in it? i thought so.

nutritional yeast is the main ingredient, followed by a slew of seasonings. i am sure you could easily make this yourself.. but when you can buy it perfectly proportioned out, why wouldn’t you? exactly. that’s what i thought.

tonight i re-created vertical’s mountain.. meals & moves style. (aka not vegan.. and a tad healthier.)

southwest sweet potato tofu scramble

makes three wife-sized servings or one wife-sized and one husband-sized (which is the equivalent to two wife sized, clearly.)

ingredients:

• one 14 oz block firm or extra firm tofu, pressed and drained
• 1/4 cup cali’s tofu scramble seasoning (or you can easily make your own using nutritional yeast and the seasonings noted above… let me know how that turns out!)
• two medium sized sweet potatoes, parboiled and grated
• one red bell pepper, diced
• one green bell pepper, diced
• one bunch green onions, diced
• 1/2 cup black beans
• 1/4 cup avocado, mashed
• 1/2 cup 0% greek yogurt
• shredded cheddar cheese (optional)

directions:

first, dice your peppers and onions and then saute until they are soft.

while the veggies are sauteing, grate your parboiled potatoes.

transfer peppers & onions to a separate dish and spray pan with cooking spray—or just use a new pan. it’s up to you. throw the potatoes in the pan and cook over medium heat, stirring often so they crisp up.

spray another pan with oil and heat over medium heat.  when it is hot, crumble the tofu into the pan. it’s OK to used your hands. promise.

add your tofu scramble seasoning.

mix well. doesn’t it look like scrambled eggs?!

let the tofu cook for a few minutes, stirring often, until it is warm through and begins to get slightly crisp.

get your toppings ready! (yes i realize that is more than the measurements stated above, but we didn’t use all this—there were leftovers of all the toppings.)

time to assemble!

layer the sweet potato hashbrowns on the bottom, then the peppers and onions, then the tofu, then the beans, then the yogurt and avocado. garnish with cheese if you’d like.

tada!!

dinner is served. this meal is SO speedy to make!

nutrition facts, for those curious.. this is for 1/3 of recipe:

dynamite.

if you are like me, you will douse this dish in cholula.

i have a feeling this will be popping up on the menu every day at least once a week.

i already want it again.

xo. janetha g.