One of my mostest favoritestest people in the whole wide world is my fabulous friend Jenny Pilong, or Jenny P, as I like to call her. She's hilariously funny and wrote the book on what is and isn't cool. She's mad crazy talented and I'm thrilled to say that I've had the honor of sharing the stage with her on several occasions. As if that isn't enough, she's also an amazing cook. I love that she sort of looks at each meal as a culinary adventure. She usually doesn't use a recipe and just throws something together using whatever she has on hand, and the final result is always a huge hit with her main squeeze, Louie Louie.
We both recently attended a party and she was telling me about her culinary experiments. I IMMEDIATELY begged her to write down what she cooks and take photos since I'm always getting requests for Vegan or Vegetarian recipes. And she did! So here is the first of what I hope will be many culinary creations by my amazing friend, the one and only Jenny P!
Thank You Please!
1 sweet potato
1 red skinned potato
1 plantain
tofu (thankfully!)
1 apple
1/2 a red onion (of which I only used a portion....it's a big onion!)
garlic
ginger root
1/4 of a lemon
fresh herbs (sage, parsley, coriander, Thai basil)
a few tbs unsweetened almond milk
Earth Balance Buttery Spread
And here goes....I knew I wanted a tofu scramble. Normally we do it "potatoes and eggs" breakfast-style (I know some people have never heard of this (insert gasp here)...but if you watch Jamie Oliver at all....you know what I'm talkin' 'bout) but, considering the ingredients I had on hand....I decided to go a bit more fall festive. This probably took about 45 minutes total to make, but that's because the potatoes take a bit to cook through. You can nuke them ahead of time if you want, but I'm trying to phase out all things microwave so I fry 'em up old school.
First I diced the potatoes (peeled the sweet potato, but not the red skinned) and put them in a medium sized tupperware with a little chopped onion, minced garlic, sage & parsley, salt, pepper and a couple TBSP of olive oil. Then I put the lid on and shook it all up. I like how this evenly coats all the potatoes with all the spices (I do homemade french fries this way too). Then I dumped them in a hot skillet coated with Earth Balance Buttery Spread. You want to get them going over medium heat, stirring occasionally.
Next I cut the tofu block (firm tofu) in half and smooshed it all up in a bowl with my hands. Then I grated some lemon zest over it, salt, pepper, fresh parsley, cumin and a few tbs of unsweetened almond milk. Stirred it all up with a fork and set aside.
Then I sliced up the plantain, diced up half the apple and a smidge of red onion, and put them in the same tupperware the potatoes had been. Some fresh, grated ginger, salt, pepper, coriander & fresh Thai basil. Cover and shake it up yo! (there was still plenty of olive oil in the tupperware already) Then I dumped it into a separate heated skillet also coated with buttery spread.
*At this point you can add the tofu scramble to the potatoes and start frying it up together. You want the potatoes to be mostly cooked before you add anything else to the pan. *
I fried up the plantain/apple mixture on high-ish heat, adding a hearty drizzle of balsamic vinegar and a little drizzle of honey. I gave it a stir and then let the plantains fry up on the one side all nice a golden brown before flipping them over.
Once everything has cooked thru, I put the plantain mixture in with the tofu/potato mixture, stirring it all together. Add a light drizzle of olive oil and a squeeze of fresh lemon.
Top with fresh Thai basil and serve.
Vegan deliciousness that sticks to your ribs on a chilly fall eve.
Altho....truth be told, if I had French feta in my fridge...it sooooo would have been crumbled on top....negating the previously stated vegan status and bumping it to mere vegetarian deliciousness. If I was feeling fancy pantsy I would have made a balsamic reduction to drizzle on the top....and def crumbled the feta on top! But it turned out super yummy. It's always an experiment! LOL.
Either way....bon appetit!
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