Tofu Breakfast Sandwich, a la New York Deli
For the marinade:
1 1/2 tablespoon vinegar (any kind but Balsamic)
1/2 tablespoon Dijon mustard (or less, if using ground mustard powder)
3 tablespoons nutritional yeast
1/2 tablespoon turmeric
1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
dash each of salt, pepper, onion powder
1 sandwich-sized slab of extra-firm tofu, frozen/thawed/drained
Rest of sandwich:
breakfast bread of choice: English muffin, bagel, etc., I personally prefer a roll to
make it authentically deli-like
vegan mayo (optional)
vegan cheese OR vegan cream cheese with chopped green onions (optional)
vegan margarine (optional)
oil for frying
This is the perfect cure for those Bland Tofu Blues. The tofu should marinate AT LEAST overnight, then the rest of the recipe takes under 10 minutes to execute. It reminds me of the NYC deli breakfast specials of an "egg on a roll" for like a buck.
Marinade:
Mix the first 6 ingredients in a small plastic container with a lid. It shouldn't be like water, but if it's not liquidy enough it won't cover the tofu. If it looks too dry, cut with a bit of cold water, the flavor won't be sacrificed (trust me). Once you have a liquidy paste, toss in the tofu, close the container, and shake to cover tofu completely. Refrigerate at least 8 hours, and even up to 48!
Sammich:
Preheat oven to 375 degrees.
Warm a small amount of cooking oil in a skillet (a dab'll do ya, the extra marinade liquid is almost enough for the frying).
When oil is hot, give the tofu a final shake in the container, then place in pan along with any non-absorbed marinade. Fry the first side about 3-4 minutes.
After putting tofu in the pan, get yer bread, and put vegan margarine or mayo you want to put on it. If you decide to use margarine, put a light brush on the outside of the bread, and/or a thin layer of vegan mayo on the insides is good. Place bread in oven.
Flip tofu over, and fry another few minutes Tofu is done when it's a goldenrod color on both sides..
At this time, if using any cheeze or cream cheeze, prepare that, add to bread, and warm in oven another minute or 2 to melt slightly. (I like vegan cream cheeze with a green onion cut up into it!)
Take bread out of the oven, add the fried tofu, and any extras like fake breakfast meats or (my favorite) tomato slices or avocado slices.
Optional: For extra greasy goodness, after removing tofu from heat, keep the burner on and add the whole assembled sandwich to the pan. Flash fry lightly on both sides (Outside of sandwich will be quite hot, careful!)
Wrap sandwich in some foil, and you're ready to go! For the true New Yorker experience, have the sandwich in 1 hand, coffee in the other, cigarette in the other...
SO HOW'D IT GO?
I totally forgot to review this recipe... It's incredibly delicious! ;)b I'm about to marinate some tofu now so we can have this for dinner tomorrow & I can't wait!
Forgot to add that this is definitely WAY better if you use frozen/thawed silken tofu. I have tried it that way a few times, and just once using firm (not frozen) tofu, and it's so much better using the silken/frozen stuff. Good either way, but mind-blowing using silken! I actually served this to two meat-eaters who claimed to not like tofu - and they loved this! One said, "I thought I didn't like tofu because it's always been really bland when I've tried it... But I guess I do like it! This is awesome!" :)
So good.
Really, REALLY good. I've made this two mornings in a row, with a couple slacker's changes... didn't want to wait for the tofu to freeze and press and marinate, so I just pressed one block of extra-firm tofu for 30 minutes or so before slicing into 6 pieces. (The center stayed nice and fluffy that way, it was very good!)
I also doubled the vinegar, added a teaspoon of vegetable oil to the marinade instead of adding it separately to the pan, reduced the turmeric to a sprinkle (personal preference) and just dipped each slice to coat on both sides and dropped them in the pan like that. Spooned the leftover marinade over the slices... it made just enough to cover them all quite generously.
Even without marinating overnight they are awesome, and it's stupidly easy to whip up on short notice. Hubby (who is not a vegetarian, just uncommonly tolerant) woke up to the smell of these cooking and practically wafted out to the kitchen cartoon-style. He raved about the taste, too. Four very enthusiastic thumbs-up from this house. Thanks!
I totally forgot to review this recipe... It's incredibly delicious! ;)b I'm about to marinate some tofu now so we can have this for dinner tomorrow & I can't wait!
This was crazy amazing good! And surprisingly low in calories... I used nasoya lite firm tofu the whole block and the marinade was enough to cover both pieces of tofu (cut it in 1/2 long way) and the total for my sandwhich not counting bread and vegan mayo was about 280 calories! I used 2tbsp vinager and the yeast although I did use 3 tbsp wasn't the weight of the serving size on the nutritional facts so it was less cal. Ohhh and I baked mine at 450 F for about 20 -25 flipping them once. Amazingy good!
Does this make enough marinade for a full block of tofu?... Maybe 2 sandwhich size slabs b/c i really want this for breakfast soon but i don't want to double the recipe and make too much... plus i plan on just baking the tofu so i don't need all the extra marinade.
This was wonderful! And I actually marinated the tofu for a full 24 hours, which is rare for me, considering I usually don't know what I want for dinner until its dinner time. But it was totally worth it! I've never had tofu taste so un-tofu like. Loved it!
best replacement for an egg sammich ever! i drained the tofu "squeeze style" as much as i could and let it marinate for 2 days. great recipe...so simple :)>>>
this sandwich was so good! i used an english muffin with tofutti cream cheese, green onions and then at the end i added tomato slices. i'm glad i used more tofu because it turned out perfectly and i loved the flavor. i can't wait to make this again, only next time i will eat it on the run in tin foil. that sounds more fun!
okay, i finally got this to the texture i like. i used frozen tofu, let it marinate for two days, and then baked it for about 25 min. at 375 F. it's def not as gooey as the fry w/all the marinade version, but that's okay, b/c the heated cream cheeze w/green onion option takes care of the goo factor. and i like adding a thick, fat slice of tomato, too.
freakin delish!
OH MY! This is one of the best sandwhiches I've ever had. I don't think I've ever made a tofu sandwich before. I love Tofu and I love sandwiches though! This is crazy good! I ate mine with ketchup and a lil cayenne pepper. I had to use a little water in the marinade. Thank you so much for this recipe! I love it! :)>>>
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