Tofu Bennies! Finally!

Eggs Benedict and their multiple variations were one of my favorite breakfast items in omni years passed. So, I have been dying to make the Tofu Bennies from Isa Chandra Moskowitz's Vegan Brunch since I got the book a few months back. The problem has been that I can only make them on Thursdays or the weekend (if I want to actually have them for 'brunch'), and by the time I get ready to make them, I am tooo hungry to let the tofu marinate for an hour and I end up eating something like cereal. boo.

So today I did it! I made a few adaptations (which are in green type), but followed the hollandaise sauce recipe 'almost' exactly. SOOOOOOOO GOOOOOD!

Here is what I did:

I used super firm tofu because I like it the best. I cut an 8 oz block into squares because

that is what I had on hand. I halved the marinade recipe since I didn't have 6 (or even 2) people to serve. (I'll have leftovers for breakfast tomorrow and Saturday) I marinated the tofu squares while I went to the store to get a few things needed for the rest of the recipe.

When I got home I made the sauce exactly as the recipe stated except I used 1 tsp 'Better than Bouillon' instead of 2 tbsp veg broth powder because that is what I had - again, it was SOOOOOOOO GOOOOOOD! :) I burned the shallots a little, so I was worried it would be ruined, but it absolutely wasn't. I'll be more careful next time tho....

While the sauce cooled I started frying up the tofu. I used less olive oil than the recipe states, because I'm on Weight Watchers and I new I could still get it nice and crisp with less. I drained the tofu on paper towels and then I crisped up two slices of Smart Deli 'ham' in the leftover oil. Isa's recipe calls for beefsteak tomatoes instead of ham, but I couldn't find any nice tomatoes, so I used 'ham'. Isa's recipe calls for smoked salt (which I will definitely purchase at some point!) or as a substitute she suggests a dab of liquid smoke and sea salt. Since I had liquid smoke and sea salt I used them and I dabbed them on the ham instead of the tomato.

Isa's recipe calls for either English Muffins or using her Diner Home Fries instead. For time's sake, I used the muffins this time.

Here is how I assembled my bennies:

Toasted the muffins, and put both halves down on a plate. Put a dollop of sauce on each muffin half and then put the smoke/salt seasoned crispy ham slices on top. Then added a tofu square on top of the ham. Finally I poured sauce over top. I used 1/3 cup sauce total (the recipe makes 2 cups, so I'll gently reheat for my leftovers later).

Mine turned out awesome, but I'll definitely try these again a million times and make the recipe exactly as Isa wrote it, and also experiment with more variations that I think of.

Here is what mine looked like. PS- My cat, Bas, licked the plate clean after I was done. The hollandaise sauce was a HUGE hit with him!

Go Out and buy Vegan Brunch (or order it) TODAY! :)