The Price of Eggs

Why don’t people eat more tofu scramble?

I’ve always wondered why people don’t eat more tofu scramble. It’s a flexible dish, adaptable to your personal tastes and what you have in the fridge. And it’s so easy, even the most beginner cook can knock it out of the park.

When I was working on a little digital cookbook once upon a time, my graphic designer made the recipe for her small children, who licked their plates clean.

She was surprised they liked it so much, but I wasn’t.

Tofu scramble is a people pleaser. It can be spicy, comforting, creamy, or crumbly. It goes with potatoes, toast, or inside tacos. Tofu scramble is equally appropriate at breakfast, lunch, or dinner.

You can make it when you don’t feel like making anything.

Tofu scramble is an absolute home cooking lifesaver whether you eat animal products or not.

I have always been willing to die on a tofu scramble hill, but now I am more perplexed than ever why it isn’t sweeping the nation.

In particular: Why aren’t more restaurants using it? My favorite breakfast taco spot in Philly has added an egg surcharge but no tofu tacos and I cannot figure out why.

Another spot famous for its breakfast sandwiches is raising prices and overexplaining on instagram (without any new tofu options!)

Everyone gets it! Eggs are expensive, and I hear these days they are often absent from the shelves.

Meanwhile, the tofu sits in the corner, mostly ignored, in spite of all the amazing things it has to offer.

I know prices change frequently, but today Wegman’s organic firm tofu costs 17 cents an ounce.

Meanwhile, Sprouts organic large eggs cost 46 cents each, and a large egg weighs 2 ounces, so eggs cost .23 cents an ounce.

That means, at the moment, tofu is 26% less expensive than eggs. That’s a pretty big discount on your morning protein.

---

Update & Announcement

Remember last week when I mentioned I deleted the Instagram app from my phone? I wondered what I would do with the freed up time and brainspace?

Well, for one thing, I created my own website for the tarot part of my life!

I’m also collaborating on an intention setting workshop at Full Moon Blends in Philadelphia on March 30. We’ll harness the energies of astrology, tarot, and aromatherapy to create powerful intentions to guide the rest of the year.

As a special gift for my newsletter readers, I’m offering a free tarot reading with me with the purchase of a ticket for the first 5 readers who register for the event!

Sign up, send me your receipt, and I’ll send you a link to book your free Zoom tarot reading.

---

Let’s move on to egg versus tofu nutrition.

Eggs and tofu have about the same amount of protein—tofu has 11 grams protein per 100 grams and eggs have 12. But tofu has about half as much fat, if you care about those things.

Tofu will also get a couple grams of fiber—a nutrient most people are woefully lacking in—while eggs have zilch.

So, if you ask me, tofu has a leg up on eggs in terms of nutrition.

And then there’s the matter of food safety and zoonotic disease anxiety.

A few months back, almost 100 people got sick from salmonella in eggs.

Though it seems likely your risk of getting bird flu from eating eggs is very low as long as you don’t eat those runny yolks (I always ate a runny yolk), it seems clear that the conditions birds (or pigs or cows for that matter) are raised in contributes to the development of a variety of diseases.

But if your scramble of choice becomes tofu, you can stop worrying about that kind of thing.

I have a recipe for tofu scramble, but you don’t even need one.

Hot skillet + oil or butter + vegetables + tofu and your favorite seasonings. That’s it! You can’t mess it up.

That said, my tofu scramble technique is always evolving. Last week, I watched Merle O’Neal make breakfast wraps for the week on YouTube and was inspired to start using soy milk instead of water in my scramble spice sauce.

I also picked up some flour tortillas today because I love a breakfast wrap too!

Tell me, is tofu scramble a staple in your house? Have you ever made one? What are your favorite additions?

I especially love mushrooms and kale.