Before I met Matt, I claimed that I didn’t really “like” Mexican food.

To which I now scream: WHAT THE HELL WAS I THINKING? OR EATING?!? I want those 22 years of my non-burrito eating life back! I honestly remember ordering soup when we went out to the infamous Don Lorenzo’s at Bonaventure. SOUP!!! Ugh, punch me in the face. No wonder I got so tipsy on their margaritas.

{Marg night @ Don Lorenzos in 2007. Adios amigos}

Since I can’t get those years or chimichangas back, I obviously need to eat as much Mexican food as humanly possible for the rest of my life to make up for the lack thereof circa 1986-2008. Which is where Chipotle comes in.

{ Marathon training perk #1: Post-run burritos }

Chipotle is the apple (avocado?) of the Izzo household’s eyes. Yes, yes, we love each other dearly, but our combined love for Chipotle is earth-shattering. As carnivores, it was the one place we could go to grab a quick bite to eat and still feel really good about it, since they serve, as they call it, “food with integrity.” Grass-fed, hormone-free meat and dairy as well as local and organic veggies, sourced from family run farms with the same integrity filled vision. And if you’ve ever seen Food, Inc. or read Fast Food Nation, you cannot deny how disgusting the fast-food industry is or just how much it has unfortunately changed everything in the American diet. (And if you haven’t seen or read either of those titles…stop reading this now and get to it! Here is a quest little teaser from Food, Inc.: in one typical burger you’ll find in either McDonald’s or your beloved grocery store, there could be up to a thousand of different cows’ meat packed into that one innocent patty, because there are only four major slaughterhouses now in the entire U.S. How do you think widespread salmonella outbreaks occur? All it takes is one cow. Gross, huh?)

Sorry sorry sorry – didn’t mean to get all crazy food lobbyist on you without warning. Anyways – CHIPOTLE.

When we made the big change to a vegetarian diet, Chipotle stuck by us. It even gave us free guacamole with our veggie bowls and burritos! And while we clocked in an average of at least 10 visits a month, just on rice, beans, veggies and (free!) gauc alone, Chipotle turned around and presented us with the greatest foodie gift this side of massaged kale salads.

SOFRITAS.

Organic tofu shredded and braised chipotle chilis, poblano peppers and spices, Sofritas is a spicy blend of vegan goodness. And while you carnivores out there might cringe at the word “tofu,” I promise you if I gave you a bite of this blindfolded, you would do a little happy dance. You also might think it is actually meat, because the texture and smokey flavors are very similar. Only it is freaking TOFU! And as skeptical as I was of the stuff when I first made the plant-based switch…I am a believer. A big, tofu-stuffed burrito believer.

So of course, after Sofritas debuted on the DC menu (according to Chipotle’s website, they are rolling them out all over the US soon) and a new Chipotle opened right around the corner from our apartment, we binged hardcore for a good month. Pretty sure we whole-heartedly gave them at least one full paycheck. Because you don’t get free gaucamole with Sofritas. So, you know, that adds up quick.

One day, after debating whether it was acceptable to walk to Chipotle for the third night in a row, we decided that we probably should learn how to make knock-off Sofritas. That way we could at least pretend that we weren’t eating Chipotle every night. And so we could start using our money to pay bills again. One Google search was all it took to find someone who already mastered the Sofritas knock-off feat – ChefDeHome. We flew out to Whole Foods, bought all necessary ingredients and got to work. The recipe is very simple and involved using the Vitamix – which is the absolute key to Matt’s culinary dedication. (Seriously – if the recipe doesn’t call for a high-speed blender, it may as well be dog food. He is a man with a serious passion for blending the shit out of things.) After making the sauce, you can marinate the tofu for as long as you’d like/as much as your tongue can handle the spice. I have zero tolerance for spice, so I was sneezing and blowing my nose from the second I started mixing the sauce into the tofu. But it is so, so(fritas) worth it.

We’ve easily made this recipe on ChefDeHome.com at least five times since we discovered it, and since it makes a large amount, we get to have our Chipotle fix for many nights in a row without the cost and/or judgement of Chipotle workers who now know us by name. I also see that Chef De Home posted an updated version where you braise thick cuts of the tofu first – looks like we’ll be trying that version this weekend! Serving suggestion: pair with How Sweet Eat’s Just Like Chipotle’s Corn Salsa and it’s a sure “I Can’t Believe It’s Not Chipotle” scene.

Just-Like-Chipotle Tofu Sofritas
Adapted from Chef De Home

Ingredients:

• 1/4 cup chipotle in adobo sauce
• 2 poblano peppers
• 1 lb tofu (two 8-ounce containers)
• 1 tsp cumin
• 1 tsp oregano
• 1 tsp salt
• 2 tbsp olive oil
• 1 tsp tajin seasoning (we couldn’t find this anywhere at our local grocery stores, but it tasted fine without it!)

Directions:

1) Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Cut your poblano peppers in half and remove seeds. Once your oven is ready, roast the peppers on a baking sheet for about 10-15 minutes on each side, or until the skin is slightly bubbly/charred. Remove from oven, allow to cool and then peel off the skin.

2) Put adobo sauce, peppers, spices and oil into a blender (or mash by hand) and blend until combined. If the mixture seems a bit too thick, thin it out with a bit more olive oil or even water. You want it to be the consistency of tomato paste.

3) Drain tofu and pat dry.  Place in a large bowl. Using your hands, crumble the tofu to your desired consistency. I had a little too much fun during this step, so mine ended up being pretty crumbly!

4) Add marinade to tofu. You can add it bit by bit, depending on how spicy you want it, but every time we have made it we wind up just dumping the whole mixture in. Stir to coast the tofu and let it sit for at least 10-20 minutes to marinade. The original recipe calls for 1 to 2 hours, but the Izzo household is pretty impatient when it comes to eating dinner!

5) Heat a large saucepan with a drizzle of olive oil over medium-high heat. Add the tofu mixture and sauté for about ten minutes, stirring frequently to brown tofu evenly. If you saved any marinade, add it to the tofu while sautéing.

6) Once tofu is browned…you have sofritas!! Serve over rice, in tacos or stuffed into a burrito with salsa, corn salsa, avocado, beans and a squirt of fresh lime. We pressed our burritos using our Foreman grill (it is about the only thing we break it out for these days!) and they were muy, muy bueno.