Living Whole Food, Plant Based!
One of my favorite meals as a kid was Shepherd’s Pie. In our house, it was how my mother would empty the refrigerator of the week’s leftovers. She would turn these leftovers into a warming comfort food, perfect for the cold Vermont evenings. As I …
Isn’t it that time of year when there is nothing better than some good old-fashion comfort food? There is something about curling up in your favorite chair with a blanket and a bowl of something warm, filling, and nourishing when it is cold and wet …
Farro, which is also known as emmer in some parts of the world, is an ancient wheat grain that has been eaten for thousands of years around the world. Farro is commonly found in Middle East, Ethiopian, and Mediterranean dishes. I have no problems finding Farro in grocery stores in the United States, commonly found in the bulk food, health food, or rice sections of the store.
As part of a Whole Food, Plant Based (WFPB) diet, it is recommended that whole grains are consumed rather than highly processed grains, such as white rice and pastas.
This makes Farro a wonderful substitute for Arborio rice, which is commonly used in risotto recipes. Risotto has a wonderful creaminess from the starches that are released during the cooking process and I have found that with Farro, I am able to achieve a similar creaminess (when combined with my secret ingredient).
In my recipe, I use the Instant Pot (pressure cooker), but honestly, you can make this on the stove top as you would normal risotto. The primary difference is that all liquid is added at the beginning with the farro rather than a little at a time with Arborio rice. An added benefit, you don’t need to constantly stir the farro as you do the Arborio rice.
This recipe can be served either as a side dish or as an entrée. Pair it with a nice red wine. This makes for a (clear my throat) sexy meal. Curl up on the couch, turn the lights down, and put on a romantic comedy. You can thank me later (even I am blushing writing this)!
The ingredients are simple and there is very little preparation.
Ingredients
One shallot, chopped (about ½ cup)
Five garlic cloves, minced
3 ½ cups of vegetable broth
12 to 16 ounces of baby portobello mushrooms, cleaned and quartered
6 to 8 ounces of washed baby spinach
1 cup of frozen peas
2 cups of farro (uncooked)
¼ cup of nutritional yeast
1 teaspoon of salt (I use pink sea salt)
2 teaspoons of granulated garlic
I recommend doing all chopping and measuring before the cooking process as it is surprising fast how quickly the steps in the process come. Trust me on this one. I usually chop and measure as I go along. With this recipe, it is best to be prepared.
Steps
Set the Instant Pot to Saute (I apologize for the image quality of the pictures of the Instant Pot…not sure why that happened)
Put the chopped shallots, minced garlic, and ¼ cup of vegetable broth in the basin of the Instant Pot. Stir constantly for about 90 seconds. The garlic and shallots will sweat and start to caramelize while the broth evaporates. If the garlic and shallots are too raw within those 90 seconds, add a splash of vegetable broth. Total cooking time here is no more than 2 ½ minutes.
Add the cleaned and quartered mushrooms, salt, and granulated garlic to the Instant Pot with a ¼ cup of vegetable broth. Stir to incorporate all ingredients together. I like to let the mushrooms cook down for about 3 minutes, stirring occasionally.
Turn off the Instant Pot.
Add the 2 cups of farro and three remaining cups of vegetable broth to the instant pot. Stir all ingredients together.
Put the lid on the Instant Pot. Set the vent to full sealing. Use the manual setting with high pressure for 10 minutes.
Once done, keep the vent on full sealing. After 5 minutes, release the vent (pressure). Unplug the Instant Pot.
Open the lid to the Instant Pot, add the baby spinach, peas, and nutritional yeast. Stir all the ingredients together. The spinach will begin to wilt down and the nutritional yeast will help create the creaminess of risotto.
Put the lid on the Instant Pot and allow 10 minutes for the spinach to wilt and the peas to warm.
Open the lid, stir everything together, and then serve! Add salt and pepper to taste and garnish with a sprig of parsley. If you like it a little spicy, red pepper flakes do the trick!
I could not have been more pleased with the dish after watching both my wife and 11 year-old stepdaughter going back for more! Start to finish, you have a wonderful (and sexy) meal in less than 35 minutes.
I hope you give this recipe a try. Who knows, maybe it will become one of your go-to dishes.
Let me know how you like it if you give it a try. I would love to hear your feedback!
Wishing you the best of health!
Stephen
I owe all my followers a sincere apology. I had every intention to post twice a week. Unfortunately, life has got in the way and work had been grueling! Fortunately, though, I have adhered religiously to my whole food, plant-based lifestyle! Hopefully, to help make …
I was so blessed to have grown up in Vermont. The Green Mountains and Lake Champlain were the perfect setting for outdoor activities. But as summer is relatively short, most of my memories are of fall and winter activities. What is Vermont if not maple …
The whole food plant-based (WFPB) lifestyle has really challenged my creativity in the kitchen. This is particularly true at breakfast when my head is still foggy while I wait for the coffee to kick in. As much as I love oatmeal, man (or woman…or child) can’t live on oatmeal alone.
I’ll admit, I am one of those people who does not feel compelled to find vegan replacements for the standard American diet (SAD). I know there are vegan sausages, hot dogs, burgers, etc. that are developed to look, feel, and taste like the “real” thing.
I innocently asked on the Forks over Knives Facebook page why people try to replace those “bad” foods with a vegan attempt to replace the foods that caused many of the issues we face today with obesity, diabetes, high cholesterol, etc.? What an extreme and vicious response from the vegan community! I’m serious. This animal and environment loving community attacked me! How dare I ask that question? It may be the gateway towards adopting the WFPB lifestyle and who am I to question how they do it? I am not kidding when I say it was vicious. I issued an apology, though I don’t know why.
The point I was trying to make was if we are changing our dietary and lifestyle habits, is pretending to eat a “hotdog” really changing our internal wiring and responses? I still feel that way, but not as strongly as I did before.
On this wet, cold, and dreary morning, I really wanted some warming comfort food. I reached for the steel cut oats that I was going to make with a drizzle of maple syrup, a Medjool date chopped, and a handful of walnuts. No can do…I had used all the oatmeal. My other options were some form of smoothie, but that was not going to warm my soul.
I opened the fridge and saw my old friend…eggs. Those little bombs of fat and cholesterol were calling out for me! That was until the tofu came in view. Can I transform tofu into something that resembles scrambled eggs? Not only did I, but it was so good, I needed to share it with my community.
I started pulling stuff out of the fridge and pantry. The ingredients came naturally to me.
One 14-ounce package of firm tofu (patted dry)
¾ cup of sliced mushrooms
¾ cup of diced onions
1 handful of baby spinach (it wilts down, so don’t worry if it seems like a lot)
½ can of diced tomatoes with green chilies
½ cup of Nutritional Yeast
1 tablespoon of granulated garlic powder
1 ½ teaspoons of turmeric powder
Salt to taste
In a bowl, combine the tofu, nutritional yeast, turmeric, and garlic powder. Use a fork to break up the tofu and incorporate the nutritional yeast, turmeric, and garlic powder. Do not pulverize the ingredients. Rather, break it up into different sizes, leaving some chunks (but not too many). I used the salt grinder to add a couple turns of salt, or about ½ teaspoon. Let this mixture sit while preparing the other ingredients. This helps the tofu soak in the flavors of the nutritional yeast, turmeric, and garlic powder.
I used a wok, but you can use a skillet or frying pan.
As an alternative to oil, I use vegetable broth to sauté the onions and mushrooms on high to medium high heat. During the sautéing process, if the pan gets too dry, feel free to add more broth, but limit it to a tablespoon or two each time as you do not want the vegetables to be too watery. Stir frequently as you cook this for about five minutes. Add the diced tomatoes with green chilies. The tomatoes will have some juice. Allow the juice from the tomatoes to evaporate. Add the handful of spinach and continue to stir. A couple turns of the salt grinder should be enough at this time. The spinach will wilt within 30 seconds.
Now it is time to add the tofu mixture to the pan. Stir the ingredients all together. Continue to cook all the ingredients on high to medium high heat for 5 to 6 minutes, stirring occasionally.
I laid the scrambled tofu on a bed of fresh spinach and then drizzled Sriracha on top. Served with sprouted grains toasted bread and a fresh cup of coffee. There I had it, my warm breakfast to take the morning chill from my body.
You can really doctor this recipe up to suit your tastes. Diced bell peppers, asparagus, or edamame may add different colors, flavors, and textures. Alternatively, fresh salsa and jalapenos may be preferred over the sriracha. There are so many options!
The nutritional yeast and turmeric give the tofu the color of eggs and the mouth feels really mimics scrambled eggs.
If I had hot pepper jelly, I would have added it to the toast, but I didn’t think what we had paired well with the sriracha.
I was extremely pleased with the results. I hope you try this recipe for Tofu Breakfast Scramble and leave me your comments. I would love to read about the different ingredients you tried with the recipe!
To your health…
Stephen