Veggie Tofu Scramble with Herbed Potatoes

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I had my first vegan tofu scramble at a hip little restaurant in Eugene, Oregon several years ago. I remember it was a pesto-based scramble and it was fabulous. I think about that scramble from time to time (I’m not even kidding) and I’d been meaning to make a vegan scramble ever since.

I finally got around to it today and I can’t believe I went so many years before I made a tofu scramble — it blew my socks off. I thought tofu would be a decent substitute for your typical egg scramble but that’s not what happened at all. It ended up being phenomenal! I actually enjoyed it more than any other scramble I’ve ever had (it was on par with that tofu pesto scramble in Eugene…mmm).

It was the hot topic of the day and I sent pictures to friends, shocked when most didn’t reply. “Did you see that it’s EGG-LESS?” They did, I guess it’s just one of those things where you had to be there.

I love scrambles but I don’t love eggs. I don’t like the sulfury smell of eggs, the flavor can be off-putting, and one crunch of a shell and it’s game over. I find nothing appealing about them, really. Now that I’ve read books and studies on how unhealthy eggs are for the body, I’ll never look back.

Regardless of what I was told my entire life, you don’t need eggs in cooking or baking!

I think I procrastinated on making a tofu scramble because I was worried that it would taste tofu-y, maybe even chalky. Let me assure you, this is not the case! Tofu is a total breakfast scramble game changer for me and I’m excited to be able to share this recipe — and many more vegan scramble varieties to come!

What’s wrong with eggs?

For the majority of my life, I viewed eggs as a health food item. This couldn’t be further from the reality.

Body builders were chugging raw eggs. My active days were started off with a plate full of fried eggs, a scramble, or an omelet. Go to any breakfast restaurant and nearly every single menu item is egg-based. Eggs, it’s what’s for breakfast! Since eggs are loaded with protein, what better way to fuel the body?

Where do I start? Egg white is essentially pure animal protein – which is not a good thing even if you are a bodybuilder! Animal protein is hard on your kidneys; it creates more acid in the blood and puts pressure on the kidneys to filter and process all those substances. And the yolk? A powerhouse of cholesterol. A single egg has around 213 milligrams of cholesterol, which is more cholesterol than an 8-oz steak and double the amount of cholesterol in a Big Mac. In one single egg! Eggs have no fiber to blunt the effects from all that cholesterol.

About 1 in 8 of Americans are walking around with chronic kidney disease—and most don’t even know it.  75% of the millions of people affected with kidney disease are completely unaware that their kidneys are starting to fail.¹ Could you be one of them?

Well, how much is too much cholesterol? A study done in 2021 found that consuming half an egg per day was associated with more deaths from heart disease, cancer, diabetes, and all causes. “For every 300 milligrams of dietary cholesterol consumed per day, mortality risk increased by up to 24%.”². Half an egg per day increases disease and mortality risk. Scientists are measuring in increments of half of an egg, not even a whole one. Who is eating half of an egg? If someone is regularly having 3 eggs for breakfast, that’s over 600 milligrams of cholesterol from the eggs alone! That’s not even taking into account the bacon or sausage that’s lying alongside the eggs on the plate.

Eating just a single egg a week appeared to increase the odds of diabetes by 76%. Two eggs a week appeared to double the odds, and just a single egg a day tripled the odds.³

60% of the calories in eggs are from fat, and much of that is saturated fat. A diet too high in fat can increase your risk for diabetes, and eggs certainly fit that bill. Ready for some scary statistics? Eating just a single egg a week appeared to increase the odds of diabetes by 76%. Two eggs a week appeared to double the odds, and just a single egg a day tripled the odds.⁴

We need cholesterol to live! But, how much?

Cholesterol has gotten a bad reputation. People talk about it in such a negative connotation that it almost seems like a bad word. But cholesterol plays important roles in our bodies, we need it in order to live!

So, how much cholesterol should we be getting from the foods we eat every day? The answer is none!

Cholesterol is a non-essential nutrient, which doesn’t mean it’s not important — it means that our bodies are capable of producing it in sufficient amount. We don’t need to be getting any more cholesterol from outside sources, our bodies have it covered.

What does cholesterol do? It helps with many functions, including making vitamin D and hormones such as estrogen and testosterone. Cholesterol is in every cell, acting as a kind of glue that holds the membranes of our cells together. “Without it, you’d collapse into a gelatinous heap,” Dr. Neal Barnard paints the vivid picture of the importance of cholesterol.

Is the soy in tofu bad for you?

No. Unless you have an allergy. But I know that’s not your question.

I was under the impression that the phytoestrogens in soy was rocket fuel for breast cancer but I can’t pinpoint when and where I got this information. Can you? No one bats an eye when you reach for a handful of almonds, an apple, or eat a bowl of strawberries in a single sitting — yet those all have phytoestrogens, too.

Here’s what happened: in the 70s and 80s, studies on breast cancer and soy were done by using mice. Breast cancer cells were grafted on the rodents and they were fed a diet full of soy. Lo and behold, the breast cancer cells grew. Assumptions were then made that phytoestrogens must fuel breast cancer growth in everyone. It wasn’t until 2009 when studies on actual humans were done. It turns out that humans metabolize soy very differently than mice and not a single study on humans and soy intake showed cancer growth. In fact, the studies only showed beneficial effects⁵ including a lowered risk of breast cancer occurrence, reoccurrence, and death!

I find this topic delightfully intriguing and if you’d like to learn more, check out my post: Does soy cause breast cancer?

What potatoes work best?

I find that the mini potato medley with purple, red, and yellow potatoes works best for breakfast scrambles! The smaller you cut the pieces, the faster they cook and easier they are to brown. Full-sized red or yellow potatoes work but they tend to be soggier and don’t brown easily (or at all). My favorite are the little purple potatoes since they are rich in anthocyanins, a type of antioxidant, so if I’m buying bulk potatoes then I get mostly those!