Umami Tofu Paté

Umami means “delicious savory taste” in Japanese, a taste characteristic of meat broths, dried shiitake mushrooms, fermented soy products, kombu seaweed, cheeses, and fermented or dried seafood. 

This vegan recipe’s umami tastes are imparted by flake-type nutritional yeast and white miso paste.  I can whip up a serving of it in less than five minutes, so it has become my go-to quick high protein dish when I don’t have time to cook.  I often serve it with sliced cucumbers, celery stalks, brown rice crackers, or toasted nori seaweed – or all of them!

Ingredients:

Organic tofu*
Organic white miso*
Organic nutritional yeast
Organic extra virgin olive oil

*Tofu and miso made from organically grown soybeans are crucial to this recipe.  I don’t want to poison myself with the carcinogenic herbicide glyphosate, with which genetically modified [GMO] soy beans are grown.  Virtually all soybeans, unless they are specifically grown by organic farming methods and marked so on their packaging, have been grown with glyphosate.

For each serving, I mash with a fork, a 2-inch slice of organic tofu (neither soft or hard, but somewhere between them, creating a texture like cottage cheese), and then blend in with the same fork one or two tablespoons of organic white miso (less to limit your salt intake).

Then I pour on a tablespoon (or more if desired) of organic flake-type nutritional yeast and a tablespoon (or more if desired) of organic extra virgin olive oil, and continue mixing with the fork until all is well blended.