A Vegan Omelet Grows in Brooklyn

Before you even see these gorgeous little beasts, let me say a word about this fine piece of rock in my palm: black salt or, in its native Hindi, kala namak. No, black salt isn’t street code for heroin. It’s a special smokey salt. In Vegan Brunch Isa gives this specialty salt time to shine, utilizing it in her omelets and Tofu Benedict and naming it a pantry staple. I couldn’t wait to heed her advice! I made the trip to Patel Brothers, an impressive Indian grocer in the heart of the true melting pot that is Jackson Heights, Queens, scoring some of the rock and fine ground black salt on the cheap.

Chipping off pieces of this sparkling salt to fit in my grinder I realized why a sprinkling of this stuff is a necessity. This savory salt is super sulfuric and super powerful. Its “egg-like” odor filled my entire kitchen. I couldn’t wait to incorporate this into my omelet! Could it be that my early days as an ovo-vegetarian were a failed attempt at finding this kind of savory salt? That I don’t make tofu omelets because I miss eggs but that I missed kala namak? This makes more sense to me as it baffles me that I every thought this was food.

I need to take a pit stop here at eggs. I want to make a clarification. Although the popular vegan tofu scrambles and tofu omelets contain flavors and textures that are reminiscent of the egg dishes I ignorantly enjoyed before I knew better, they are not mock-eggs. In the same way that an i-Phone is not a mock-rotary phone. A vegan diet is not about faux-this or faux-that, it’s about real food, Earth-based food, compassionate food, natural food, better food: for you, for the planet, for the other animals we share the planet with. Anyway, I challenge any egg-eater to not be appalled by how eggs are produced. And I challenge anyone who is appalled to make a choice not to participate in that which they find appalling. Ok, off my soapbox.

Now that I totally made you lose your appetite, I’m going to make you hungry again. So onward to my delicious roasted tomato cashew ricotta basil-stuffed tofu omelets. Yes, I said: Roasted tomato. Cashew ricotta. Basil. Here’s a photo step-by-step for this amazing recipe. Please buy the book if you want the complete recipe. It is well worth it.

Perfectly plump plum tomatoes, pan-roasted to perfection:Tofu-cashew ricotta… mmm. I ended up with a whole bunch leftover so I may make a mini-lasagna.
Fresh basil. Isn’t it just so good?
Here is the tofu omelet batter: silken tofu, garlic, nutritional yeast, olive oil, turmeric, that special black salt, chickpea flour and arrowroot.
Here we go! The batter firms up very quickly but be patient. This is no pancake. I found I needed to cook each side several minutes.
Gosh, look at that color, the texture. This could be one of the best omelets ever!
And there is the real deal… golden and fluffy tofu omelet stuffed with cashew ricotta, fresh basil and roasted plum tomatoes. This recipe is sure to become one of my all-time favorites.