One of my favourite days in Maui were spent strolling the colourful streets of Paia, grabbing a picnic lunch from the hot bar and salad bar at Mana Foods, and watching the surfers and the sea turtles at Ho’okipa Beach. Often when we vacation to a new destination, we pack our schedule full to the brim with places to go, things to see and things to do, trying to check them off like a grocery list. What I appreciate about Maui is how laid back and slow it is; even the speed limit is slow! Everything there is like a reminder to relax and actually soak in the beauty of the island. So instead of lining up to eat at a well-known restaurant, we took boxes of vegetarian-friendly dishes to the beach with us and enjoyed them as the island breeze wafted the salty ocean scent through our hair.
Some of the items we picked out were the 2nd best kale salad I’d ever eaten (after Chew’s of course), house-made tiramisu, mango kombucha, and cubes of tofu covered in a thick nutritional yeast sauce. I’m not sure whether it was the delicious picnic food, or the thrill of watching surfers catch big waves (something I could never do; I’m just beginning to re-learn how to open my eyes underwater), or the super chillax ‘honu’ basking in the sun, or the combination of all those reasons, but it made for a memorable vacation day and I’d go back and relive that day in a heartbeat.
My family tried nutritional yeast for the first time that day. As funky as it sounds, they loved the savoury, umami taste. It’s been 2 months since I’ve returned home from that Maui trip and I still think of that tofu every time I encounter nutritional yeast.
I’m I the only one with this problem: You find yourself eating only sweet things for days on end because it’s the easiest meal to prepare (i.e. cereal, pb&j toast, smoothies, fruit fruit and more fruit)? Since I’ve been attending evening yoga classes with a friend, I haven’t been home during dinnertime. I finally got sick of eating sweets and got my lazy bum up to make myself an actual lunch. All the ingredients for ‘nooch’ (nickname for nutritional yeast) tofu waiting for me anyways. A quick Google search led me to this recipe, which is actually from another natural grocery store I visited during my stay in Maui! So it must be legit right?
This nooch tofu turned out fantastic and just like the one I had in Paia. It makes a great burger patty or a protein source for your sandwiches or on top of noodles; the possibilities are endless! I stacked my burger high with baby spinach, grilled eggplant, 2 slabs of this tofu, sliced roma tomato, and raw zucchini ribbons. Use whatever you have on hand because it’ll be a dang good burger no matter what!
- NOOCH TOFU
- 1 tbsp vegetable oil
- 350g extra firm tofu, cut into thick slabs
- ¼ cup nutritional yeast
- ¼ tsp garlic powder
- ¼ tsp freshly cracked black pepper
- 1 to 2 tsp soy sauce
- 1 to 2 tbsp water
- ASSEMBLY
- Burger buns, your favourite condiments, leafy greens, tomato, etc.
- Heat the vegetable oil in a frying pan over medium-high heat. Once hot, add the tofu slabs and sear both sides until golden brown.
- In a small bowl, whisk the nutritional yeast, garlic powder, and black pepper together. Lower the heat and then add it to the pan and toss to coat the seared tofu. Add the soy sauce and water and mix until the nutritional yeast gets saucy. Turn the heat off and begin assembling your burgers.
- Spread your burger bun with your favourite condiments and layer on the veggies and a slab of nooch tofu. Enjoy while warm.
Tofu recipe barely adapted from Down to Earth.
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