Description

Savory herb and cheese waffles topped with smoky, crunch battered tofu and drizzled with spicy Sriracha Maple Syrup. A true comfort food breakfast.

Ingredients

Scale

Waffles

1 1/2 cups all purpose flour

1/4 cup finely ground cornmeal

1 tsp baking powder

1 tsp onion powder

1 tsp garlic powder

1/2 tsp paprika

1/2 tsp pepper

1 tsp salt

1 1/2 cups almond milk

1/4 butter – melted (see notes)

2 tbsp scallions, chopped

1/4 cup cheddar cheese (see notes)

2 tbsp fresh parsley, chopped

1 tbsp fresh dill, chopped

PAM or other non-stick spray

Tofu Fried Chicken

2 14 oz blocks extra firm tofu, cut into 1 inch steaks

1 cup all purpose flour

1/2 tsp cayenne pepper

1 tsp smoked paprika

1 tsp cumin

1 tsp each salt and pepper

1 1/2 cup almond milk

2 tbsp red hot (or other favorite hot sauce)

2 cups panko breadcrumbs

1/4 cup sunflower oil (or other high heat vegetable oil)

1 cup maple syrup

4 tbsp Sriracha

Instructions

Start with the waffles. In a large bowl, combine the flour, cornmeal, baking powder, garlic powder, paprika, salt and pepper until fully mixed. In a smaller bowl, whisk together almond milk and melted butter. Then add the scallions, cheddar cheese, parsley and dill to the wet ingredients and whisk.
Form a well in the the middle of the dry ingredients and pour the wet ingredients into the well. Fold with a spatula until fully mixed. The batter should be fairly wet like a pancake batter.
Heat up your waffle iron. When it’s heated, spray with non-stick spray. Going about 1/2 cup at a time, pour the waffle mix into the iron, be very careful not to overfill it. When it’s about half way filling up the grooves, you want to stop, then clamp it down. If too much overflows out of the side, use a smaller amount on the next round. It’s no biggie though, you can cut off any overlap. These take about three minutes on each side for the waffles to cook, just flip the iron halfway through. If you lift it and it’s still sticking it may not be done. They should be slightly browned.
Next, turn to the tofu. Start by heating the vegetable oil in a large cast iron or other skillet. It should fill up about 1/4 inch of the bottom of the skillet. Take three shallow bowls. In one bowl, whisk together the flour, cayenne pepper, smoked paprika, cumin and salt and pepper. In another bowl whisk the almond milk and hot sauce and pour the breadcrumbs into the other.
When the oil begins to sizzle and is heated, begin coating the pieces of tofu first in the milk, then the flour, back into the milk and then coat fully in the breadcrumbs. You may need more breadcrumbs, they can go kind of fast.
Place the coated tofu steaks into the pan and shallow fry for about 3 minutes on each side until they start to brown. Line a plate with paper towel and transfer the pieces of tofu to the plate when done.
Now you’re almost ready to eat. Whip up the Sriracha Maple Syrup by whisking together the syrup and sriracha in a trivet or a measuring cup with a pouring spout if you don’t have a trivet. Serve with the tofu on top of the waffles and top with the syrup and a some sliced scallions and avocado if you have some!

Notes

To make this vegan, use melted vegan butter, or another vegetable oil. If you use another vegetable oil, add just another pinch of salt. For cheese either cut it out or use vegan cheese.