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.
I love the portobello vertical burrito, so yummy!
oh. my. god. i can’t believe that scramble mix exists and that i don’t have it in my mouth right this second! i heart the mountain at sage’s so very much, but your sweet potato version sounds amaze-dog! i have to go to cali’s, like NOW. i have never been, though often want to, and you just pushed me over the edge!
Mmm… I love the portobello vertical burrito, so yummy!
Sorry, multiple comments! But really, it’s good enough for multiple comments!
You had me at sweet potato hashbrowns! :P
i am making this asappppp. boom!
I love tofu scrambles! I love sweet potatoes! I love Janetha :)
Have a good Friday!!!
ohh.. I can’t wait to try it!
oh tofu scramble. i’ve never even thought to crumble my tofu. soon … i will.
Tried Sage’s a few months ago, loved it & have a gift certificiate that I will def be using at the Vertical Diner. Your SW scramble looks awesome as usual. MMM hot sauce.
I just moved to Utah from California and I really appreciate this post for a few different reasons. #1 is I have been looking for a Natural Foods store (live in Bountiful) and now I can’t wait to go!!! #2 I am totally obsessed with the idea of liking tofu however the one time I tried it, it almost came right back up. I might have to give it one more chance though :)
That looks sooo good! I’ve been wanting to try tofu scrambles for awhile. I’ll have to get a block of tofu next time I’m at the natural store.
I <3 Cholula
Combining Mexican flavor with breakfast food? I’m in love :) The sweet potato hash looks like it totally adds to this bad boy too. Cool restaurant. If I’m ever around your area- we’re meeting up there! Hope you have a nice Friday
that sounds like a really cool place!!! nice work on the re-creation at home!
don’t you just love when you think your mind is blank, then you get a pa-wow! shot of creative inspiration for a blog entry. that’s the great thing about having a blog (like yours) where you just write about LIVING!!
happy friday!
This looks sensational!!!! I make something similar and it’s honestly one of my favorite meals too. You can never go wrong with beans, tofu, guac and salsa.
ahh, good choice JG! I love that meal. So delicious and well……purrrrrty!
That looks SO delicious! I love big ol’ piles of food :) I need that in my life asap!
Ahh! Fabulous. I will be copy catting you this weekend. This looks wonderful. :D
This looks like someting I might actually be able to make and not screw up! I’m going to attempt it this weekend :)
Thanks for the recipe, I’ll let ya know how it turns out!
This looks so good! I love avocado! :)
That looks bomb. Do people say “bomb” anymore? I might be turning into an old person and using expressions from ten years ago.
I can totally see this becoming my new favorite meal, too! Looks AMAZING!!
xo
Hi Janetha,
I’m a frequent lurker of your blog. I’ve never commented before, but when I saw this meal I cimply couldn’t resist. OUTSTANDING! I literally can’t wait to make it. Correction: I literally can’t wait to EAT it. My mouth is already watering. Nom nom nom nom nom nom nom. lol. I will be making it this weekend subbing egg whites for the tofu. Thanks for sharing!! :)
so colorful! it’s like a rainbow on a plate :) minus blue & purple :D
xo.
this looks simply fabulous. all of my favorite foods in one meal. bravo!
That looks great. Very different and creative!
That looks delicious — I need to make sweet potato hashbrowns! What a good idea :)
Oh my tofu. This looks baller. I bet it IS baller since it came from your genius kitchen
That does sound delicious! I am curious, as I have never been to Utah or SLC, but it seems like a pretty health-conscious place. You always list the most awesome sounding ethical stores, restaurants and cafes. A lot of vegan, a lot of local produce, meat, etc. So, is it as healthy a city as it sounds, or is this just the feeling I am getting? Either way, sounds like an awesome place to live. Much better than my neck of the woods…St. Louis, MO-Hate it!
Hmmm I am not sure where we rank on the healthy city list. We have a lot of healthy options and more and more places are popping up. It probably seems more healthy than it is because I seek out all the healthy locations, haha!
That tofu scramble looks INCREDIBLE! Especially with the sweet potato (love). I must recreate this.
Have a great weekend!! :-D
I have a block of tofu in my fridge waiting to be used. I just might have to make this for dinner tonight!
Janetha,
Im so impressed with your goal-sticking (t0? how does one say that? i hope you get my point!)!
I was just curious though, if you’re at all concerned about how much protein you eat– i hear you really shouldn’t eat much more than 30g at one sitting too often since it can really stress your kidneys… i mean, 35-40 g every once in a while won’t kill ya, but i’ve always been under the impression that >30 is pretty hard for your kidneys to handle on a regular basis. also, i’ve also always been told that your body can’t even really take in >25-30g of protein at a time– that any more just gets wasted and processed out (i.e. not used as actual nutrition)– thoughts??
and btw, thanks for all the recipes and inspiration… i’ve definitely started craving my Insanity sessions again, and been getting back into greek yogurt now that i’ve seen it so much on your blog!
Amanda
Hey Amanda,
I have heard both sides of this debate and I just do what I know works for my body.. which is aim to get 125 grams of protein each day. I have done lower protein, higher protein, carb cycling, cleanses, etc etc etc and I know that eating around a 40/40/20 ratio is what my body likes best. Sometimes I go under and other days I go over.. and some days I don’t even count! (Let’s be real, most days I don’t count.. I am lazy and hope for the best!) I typically get 25 grams at each meal and around 15 grams for my snacks. Some meals are more (like this one) and some meals are less. Anyway, I have talked to my doctor about this back when I was doing BFL, and he said not to worry about my kidneys and to keep doing what I do. He also said that as long as I combine the protein with a good balance of carbs and fat, I shouldn’t worry. I eat less protein now than I did when doing BFL, so I am not worried. However, everybody is different so I think they should consult a physician before making any serious changes to their diet. Thanks for bringing this up–it’s a good topic! One I wouldn’t really dive into because I am not a trained professional, but these are my thoughts and what works for me. :)
oh my goodness that looks delish! :)
the gauc and sourcream/greek yogurt are key, thanks for sharing! :)
I love tofu scrambles but never thought about adding sweet potato and black beans. This sounds great!
Happy Friday. Here’s to another alcohol free weekend – I’m going to a big party on Saturday night so I might need some twitter support again. :)
This looks awesome! I love shredded SP!
Happy Friday :)
Oh my that tofu scramble looks and sounds delish! I have never had shredded sweet potato but must try it now. I don’t normally cook BUT I *think* I could handle this dish. Hubby doesn’t do tofu so this would be all mine.
Those kinds of places are the best. We live fairly close to a large Amish community and I love going there to shop…they have so many grains and spices for DIRT cheap. I feel like I’m stealing from them! The meal looks delicious and sooo very healthy! Love it!
that does look pretty good, obviously because of the clean plate at the end. You can make it for me lol
I really should get into eating more tofu. That scramble looks so good :) Did you grate the sweet potato with the skin on? I always peel mine but if the skins gives more nutrients or something, I should keep it…
They really do look like eggs – very cool! It looks wonderful!!
I am dying to go to Calli’s. It’s kind of out of my geographical area right now, but I dare say it’s worth the trip :) Thanks again for chillin’…I mean, sweatin’ it out with me last night. Definitely a fascinating experience, and always really great to see you. xoxo
P.S. I am so gross right now. I ran home and showered asap, but I didn’t wash my hair because we’re doing baptisms for YW’s tonight and I knew it would just get all ruined again. Even though I worked out this morning, too. Oh well. Don’t tell anyone. I don’t think Jesus will mind ;) haha
That looks like a huge mountain of all of my favorite foods in the whole world, no lie!
Looks delicious!! This may have to be my redemption recipe after failing with my tofu scramble a few months ago. But I’ll need those spice measurements!
Mmmm. I gotta go restock my nutritional yeast!
Looks delish. This may be the inspiration for my meal tonight!
I am GOING to make this-hold me to it, k??? Looks awesome!
Sold! That recipe does look seriously awesome. Although, the idea of grating sweet potatoes makes me nervous. I’m weirdly inept at grating, cutting, dicing, you name it. What should take a few minutes for the average person can take me 20 minutes easily.
yum that looks good. esp. with the hot sauce, which i am now reminded i need more of!
Oh my god, i just had this for dinner and it was SO good.
Pretty much all of my favourite foods in one meal, yummy <3
Topping sweet potato with tofu scramble is a favorite meal of mine too… I had no idea I was recreating an epic dinner! ;)
I love that ingredient list! :D
I’m so happy you linked up this recipe to The Healthy Hop! I always love a good tofu scramble.