Another Winner from The Nut Gourmet
A few posts ago, I mentioned one of the new books I received, The Nut Gourmet by Zel Allen. I have been anxioius to try one of the “cheezy” dips in the book, and today presented the perfect opportunity. After a swim, my younger son Evan and two friends, all young teens, were hungrier than the usual, which is to say, ravenous.
So, I decided to try out Zel’s “Cheezy Tofu Spread with Pine Nuts.” Wow, this insanely good. I wouldn’t want to be in the room alone with this dip, in fact—it would be more dangerous for me than chocolate. Though a 1/4 cup serving—which is ample—contains only 122 calories and 9g fat, according to the analysis. Oh, and the boys liked it, too. They had to break open a bag of tortilla chips to use, once the pita chips were gone.
Zel has several sandwich suggestions with the recipe, including spreading on bread, topping with tomato and vegan cheese and melting under the broiler (yum!) or in a sandwich with lots of veggies like lettuce, tomatoes, onion, avocado, etc. I think this would be fantastic chilled, on a warm bagel, as a cream cheese substitute. In fact, I’ll try that tomorrow.
The only changes I made to the recipe were to use rice milk instead of soy milk, and I added a sprinkling of paprika to the top. I’m sure Zel would not mind if I reprint the recipe here:
Cheezy Tofu Spread with Pine Nuts
From: The Nut Gourmet
Yield: 2 cups
- 1 pound extra-firm tofu
- 1/2 cup pine nuts
- 3 tablespoons unsweetened soymilk
- 2 tablespoons plus 1 teaspoon nutritional yeast flakes
- 2 teaspoons freshly squeezed lemon juice
- 1 1/2 teaspoons red miso
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1/4 teaspoon freshly ground pepper
Combine all the ingredients in the food processor and process until smooth and creamy. Stop the machine occasionally to scrape down the sides of the work bowl. Serve immediately or thoroughly chilled. Stored in a covered container in the refrigerator, Cheezy Tofu Spread with Pine Nuts will keep for one week.
Julie said,
June 15, 2006 @ 10:56 pm
This looks delish! Did you use water packed tofu or extra firm silken tofu?
Thanks!
Catherine said,
June 16, 2006 @ 12:43 am
Thanks for the recipe and the book tip - I’m always looking for new and innovative veggie cookbooks!
Geraldine said,
June 16, 2006 @ 8:17 am
This sounds yummy, nice photo too!
Happy Friday, G
Jennifer W said,
June 16, 2006 @ 12:36 pm
OK - I NEED to try this. I am looking for ways to be more creative and add more homemade dishes to my meal plans.
I even got my boyfriend to agree to eat 1 vegitarian meal a week, so that makes life easier, and I can stop making two meals (the same meal really - just with a side of meat for him) and enjoy the summer!
I MAY GET HIM TO BE VEGGIE YET!!!!!
Nava said,
June 16, 2006 @ 1:22 pm
The author, Zel Allen, called for extra firm tofu, so I assumed water packed, but I have no doubt that it would work with silken tofu. It might have a slightly looser consistency, like a dip. This worked well as both a dip and a spread.
I bet it would be great with some fresh herbs blended into it, or olives. The mark of a good recipe is that it inspires other ideas, and that you can mess with it without messing it up!
Julie said,
June 16, 2006 @ 1:36 pm
Thanks Nava! Now that my kids are home for summer break, it looks like a perfect afternoon snack for them.
Julie
Teddy said,
June 17, 2006 @ 1:11 pm
Thanks for the recipe Nava. I’m addicted to unsalted corn torilla chips and this looks like it would work well with them. yumyum
Teddy
Anjelica said,
June 18, 2006 @ 4:29 pm
my mouth is watering at the thought of it!