A popular breakfast dish throughout the Middle East, shakshuka is traditionally made by poaching eggs in a spicy tomato sauce. Here, we’ve shaken things up by replacing the eggs with seasoned and seared tofu, and we’ve included an extra helping of protein by adding crispy spiced chickpeas to fuel you up for a busy day ahead.
Herb swap
Can’t find the fresh herbs needed for a recipe? Simply swap in the same dried herb using three times less the amount. For example, if a recipe calls for 1 Tbsp (15 mL) fresh basil, you can swap it for 1 tsp (5 mL) dried basil.
Per serving:
Preheat oven to 375 F (190 C). Place rimmed baking tray in oven to warm while it preheats.
Drain tofu, wrap in clean kitchen towel or paper towel, and set aside on plate with 8 to 9 in (20 to 23 cm) cast iron pan set on top. Set tofu aside for 30 minutes to remove excess moisture.
While tofu sits, spread rinsed chickpeas onto clean dish towel and gently rub until well dried. Transfer chickpeas to bowl and toss with lemon juice, Dijon mustard, and paprika. Pour seasoned chickpeas onto hot baking tray in single layer. Roast for 10 minutes in preheated oven, give a toss, then roast again for another 10 minutes.
Meanwhile, in small bowl, stir together 1 Tbsp (15 mL) grapeseed oil and za’atar. Once chickpeas have roasted for a total of 20 minutes, drizzle with za’atar, toss to coat, and return to oven for an additional 10 minutes. Set aside to cool on baking tray while making shakshuka. Keep oven on.
Once tofu has been pressed, unwrap tofu and slice block in half widthwise to create 2 thinner rectangles. Slice each tofu rectangle in half, then slice each piece along the diagonal to create 8 triangles. Brush tofu pieces all over with 1 Tbsp (15 mL) grapeseed oil before sprinkling with turmeric (if using) and black pepper.
Preheat cast iron pan over medium heat before adding tofu pieces, in batches if necessary, to cook until lightly browned on each side, about 8 to 10 minutes total. Transfer tofu to plate and set aside. Keep cast iron pan on stove.
To warm cast iron pan, add remaining 1 Tbsp (15 mL) grapeseed oil and let warm for 30 seconds. Add onions and sauté, stirring occasionally, until softened, about 4 minutes. Add garlic and bell pepper and continue to cook, stirring occasionally, until softened and starting to brown, about 10 minutes. Stir in cumin, coriander, and red pepper flakes, and let cook for 1 minute before adding canned tomatoes along with their juices, cilantro, and dill. Stir sauce together well and let come to a simmer. At this point, if you prefer a smoother sauce, use an immersion blender to purée sauce a bit. Nestle tofu into sauce and transfer pan to oven for 10 minutes.
To serve, top warm shakshuka with some reserved cilantro, avocado slices, and pomegranate seeds. Sprinkle some za’atar-spiced chickpeas over shakshuka and serve the rest alongside for guests to help themselves. Serve while warm alongside some warm pita or toasted rustic bread, if desired.
Lime juice and ginger add a tropical whiff to this French-Japanese mashup, where seaweed tendrils and Dijon mustard bring out the umami flavours in mushrooms and eggplant. The ingredients might seem to be strange bedfellows, but they work. The result is somewhere between a quiche and a soufflé, with a gluten-free eggplant crust featuring punchy mustard and citrus. This makes for a hearty vegetarian main for brunch, lunch, or dinner with a side salad, or a filling side dish. Fresh or dried If you don’t have fresh thyme and parsley, use 1 tsp (5 mL) dried thyme (divided) and 1 Tbsp (15 mL) dried parsley. The flavours won’t be as pungent, but a little flavour is better than none.
These are the perfect two-bite appetizers. Though the first bite likely won’t “wow” you, the more you chew, the more the salt from the dulse soaks into the avocado and tomato. Wait for it. You can also turn these into breakfast à la avocado toast by substituting a piece of your favourite bread for a slice of baguette. What’s in a name? Theoretically, this should be called a “DLTA” because of the avocado (dulse, lettuce, tomato, and avocado). And if you left out the lettuce, you’d have a “DTA.” A DTA would arguably be a better overall eating experience, since lettuce slightly waters down the rich and creamy result and makes it harder to keep the tomatoes from sliding off the top of the crostini. But the juicy lettuce is actually helpful, since it spreads the salt from the dulse throughout the entire bite, making the “wow” moment come sooner. Besides, neither DLTA nor DTA is as fun an acronym as DLT.
This triple-threat recipe is made with (up to) three types of seaweed. Wakame is essential for the pesto, but kombu boosts the umami punch of sautéed garlic and cherry tomatoes, while kelp noodles are a low-carb substitute for flour-based noodles. Because kelp noodles can be hard to find (you’ll likely need to order them online), feel free to use your favourite boxed linguine, zucchini noodles, shirataki konjac, tofu, or yam noodles instead. You can also leave out the vongole (clams) to keep the recipe plant-based, or use mussels, which are usually more affordable than clams. Both clams and mussels are generally sustainable, as, like seaweed, they’re farmed without feed or antibiotics, unlike many farmed fish operations. Double-duty pesto Make a double batch of seaweed pesto, and enjoy it with eggs, scrambled tofu, or toast.
Spicy popcorn? You bet. This Japanese seven-spice blend combines salty and spicy notes for a healthy snack. If you don’t make your own togarashi, check the container before adding it to your popcorn to make sure it doesn’t contain salt. For an even simpler recipe, skip the togarashi and just grind a few pieces of nori and a pinch of salt in a blender or spice grinder to sprinkle on your popcorn instead. If you’re fresh out of nori, you can always grind wakame, arame, or dulse instead, leaving out the pinch of salt for dulse or any seaweed you taste and find already salty. Shichimi togarashi This customizable spice blend generally features sansho pepper, a.k.a. Japanese prickly ash, a green peppercorn with a citrusy taste, along with seaweed flakes, chili pepper, and dried citrus peel—often yuzu or mandarin orange. If you can’t find sansho, look for Sichuan peppercorn, which has a slightly stronger mouth-tingling effect. You can buy dried orange, mandarin, or tangerine peel. Or you can dehydrate your own, in which case you might as well dehydrate a 1/8 in (3 mm) thick piece of fresh ginger along with the peel. If you can’t handle a lot of chili pepper heat, reduce the pepper to your taste.