Healthy Pumpkin Mousse

It seems like everyone has already moved on from pumpkin flavoured everything to gingerbread everything, myself included – I love Starbucks gingerbread lattes even more than pumpkin spice lattes and now that they have a molasses drizzle on them I can’t resist getting one whenever I go near a Starbucks! 

And now that there’s starting to be a little snow in the air and on the ground, it’s hard to resist getting in the holiday spirit already. I thought it was a little early still but the Santa Claus parade in my hometown is tomorrow, so I guess not!

I was just reading on Averie Cooks yesterday (in her post for these amazing looking gingerbread molasses chocolate chip bars) how bloggers so predictably go from pumpkin to gingerbread to peppermint every year, which is so true.  But part of what makes people go crazy for these flavours is how briefly we get to use them each year, so we have to make the most of them while we can!

Hopefully not everyone is ready to completely abandon pumpkin yet though, as I still have one more pumpkin recipe to share!

Pumpkin tofu mousse is probably not anything new to a lot of you, but this was the first time I’d tried it and it was so much better than I’d expected that I’ve already made it a few times this year! It’s basically like pumpkin pie in mousse/pudding form with the added benefit of being pretty healthy!  It's actually not as fluffy as regular mousse, but it's lighter than pudding so I wasn't sure what to call it - feel free to call it whatever you like!

This mousse or pudding or whatever you want to call it is super easy to make – just blend together some pumpkin puree, silken tofu (you won’t taste it at all but it adds protein and makes everything light and fluffy!), a bit of pure maple syrup for sweetness, and some vanilla and pumpkin pie spices. I also added a little Greek yogurt to mine for a little extra flavour and thickness, but if you prefer to keep this vegan you could leave it out.

Hope you have room for a little more pumpkin in you, but if not, I will probably be moving on to holiday flavours pretty soon!

Pumpkin Tofu "Mousse"

Adapted from several sources, including The Smart Kitchen and Baked In

Makes around 4 small servings (but serving size for something like this can vary)

Ingredients:

8oz silken tofu (usually about half a package), drained of all excess water (do your best to get as much water out as you can)

1 3/4 cup pumpkin puree (not pumpkin pie filling) – or one 15oz can

1/4 cup plain or vanilla low fat Greek yogurt

1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

1/4 cup + 2 tablespoons pure maple syrup

1/2 teaspoon cinnamon

1/4 teaspoon ground ginger

1/4 teaspoon nutmeg

1/8 teaspoon cloves

1/8 teaspoon salt

Directions:

Add tofu and pumpkin to the large bowl of a food processor and process until smooth.  Add all remaining ingredients (leave the 2 tablespoons of maple syrup out for now), and process until well combined.  Taste and add as much of the remaining 2 tablespoons of maple syrup as desired to reach desired level of sweetness.  If desired, you could replace some of the maple syrup with brown sugar.  Adjust any other spices as needed and according to preference.

Refrigerate for at least 1-2 hours before serving.  Keep refrigerated.  Water from the tofu may separate after a couple of days, just drain it or stir it back in before serving.

Creamy Vegan Tofu Basil Pesto Sauce

Remember when I discovered that I can eat tofu when it's disguised in a dip?  And that it can add a silky creaminess to a dip without you even being able to taste it?  Well I decided to see if this same magic would also work in a pasta sauce, and guess what?  It does!

I wanted to make a pesto sauce that would be light and creamy through the addition of silken tofu.  The only recipe I found was this one from Cooking Light, so I worked from it but made it vegan using nutritional yeast and walnuts in place of the parmesan cheese.  I'd like to tell you that I did this because nutritional yeast is healthier than parmesan (which it is), but really it's because when I went to the grocery store looking for parmesan, all they had were ginormous hunks that cost 20 dollars, and I wasn't willing to spend that much money on a meal that I wasn't even sure would work out!

Fortunately, this meal not only worked out, but it was delicious!  The silken tofu gave the pesto such a smooth and fluffy texture that made for a creamy sauce that still tasted light and had all the flavour of pesto, which I love!  I ate all of mine with pasta, but I think it would also work great as a sandwich spread or dip.

I decided to be extra healthy and eat my pesto with a gluten-free multigrain penne I'd bought from Whole Foods, made from rice, quinoa, and amaranth.  Unfortunately, when the pasta was done cooking it looked like this (and no, my pot is not normally that dirty, all the residue on the sides was from the pasta):

I still ended up eating it (no sense wasting food!), but didn't think those shreds of pasta would make for a very nice picture, so I immediately cooked up some whole wheat spaghetti so that I could show a photo of the pesto sauce in action.  That's how much I love you guys!

Of course, I realized afterward that I forgot to add cherry tomatoes for the photo, so just imagine they're in there making it prettier.  I gave some pasta to Ryan and asked if he could guess what was in it, which he couldn't, and even after I told him there was tofu in it, he still happily kept eating!  So don't think that if you hate tofu you won't like this, I promise you can't tell it's in there!

Tofu Basil Pesto Sauce

Adapted from Cooking Light

Makes enough sauce for 3-4 pasta servings

Ingredients:

1 cup fresh basil leaves
1 cup silken tofu
3 tablespoons nutritional yeast
2 tablespoons chopped walnuts
2 garlic cloves, minced
2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
Salt and Pepper to taste

Directions:

Combine all ingredients in a food processor and process until smooth.  Season with salt and pepper to taste and process to combine.

If serving pesto with pasta, cook 8oz pasta and heat up the pesto in a saucepan before tossing with the cooked pesto.  I also added some sauteed cherry tomatoes to the pasta, which worked really well.  You could also use the pesto as a sandwich spread, pizza sauce, or dip! 

Fresh Corn Dip with Tomatoes and Basil

There are people who love tofu, people who absolutely hate tofu, and people who say they hate tofu but have really only tried it one way, and if they just ate it roasted or sautéed with a flavourful marinade and seasonings then they would probably change their mind. 

I fall somewhere between the second or third category – I’ve always strongly maintained that I hate tofu, and though I admit I haven’t tried every preparation of it, I have tried it at least a couple of times and just can’t get past the texture.  I’m a big texture person – I hate crab, lobster, and shrimp, for example, not because of the taste but because of that horrible texture that I can only describe as rubbery (I’m getting grossed out right now just thinking about it!).  So I don’t just discriminate against tofu, I discriminate against textures!

Now moving on to something I love, I cannot get enough of fresh summer corn lately.  I can eat a whole bowl of corn kernels with a bit of salt and pepper as a snack and be the happiest girl in the world, and I love incorporating corn into my dinners too.   

Lately I’ve been seeing a lot of corn dip recipes around the web that look amazing, but are often loaded with cheese or cream or other not-so-light ingredients, and since I’m usually the only one eating whatever I make, I didn’t like the idea of having to eat that all by myself.  So I was intrigued when I saw a lighter, fresher corn dip recipe on Whole Living, with tomatoes, basil, and … you guessed it - tofu!

So it was a battle between my love for corn and my hatred for tofu – which would win out?  Well as you already know, my need for corn dip in my life was stronger, and I convinced myself that maybe silken tofu isn’t as bad as regular tofu, and maybe when it’s mixed into a dip I wouldn’t notice it, and maybe if I added a little goat cheese to the tofu then it would mask any “tofu-y” taste.

And it turns out that every one of those assumptions was right!  The tofu added creaminess to the dip in a way that made it light and fluffy, but I didn’t taste the tofu one bit!   All I tasted was summer in a bowl – the fresh flavours of corn, tomato, and basil, with a bit of tang from the goat cheese and lime juice that helped to cut the sweetness of the corn.  One bite and I was in love with this dip.  I ate it with tortilla chips and spread it on slices of hearty multigrain bread and both ways were delicious! 

This makes a fantastic summer appetizer, and you don’t even need to tell anyone there’s tofu in it because they won’t know!  And while I’m not sure this converted me to a tofu-lover, I’m definitely intrigued with the idea of sneaking tofu into things in ways that I won’t notice it!  In fact, I’ve already tried a second recipe to use up the rest of my silken tofu and I loved it too, so give this one a try so you can get excited about the second recipe coming soon!

Fresh Corn Dip with Tomatoes, Basil, and Tofu!

Adapted from Martha Stewart as seen on Whole Living

Serves 4-8 as an appetizer

Ingredients:

2 cups fresh corn kernels (from about 2 large ears)

1/3 cup milk (I used skim)

1/3 cup silken tofu

2 ounces goat cheese

2 teaspoons fresh lime juice

Salt and freshly ground pepper

1 cup chopped tomato (about 2 medium tomatoes)

1/3 cup basil leaves, thinly sliced

Directions:

Cut the kernels off your ears of corn into a large bowl, and rub the back of a large knife along the cobs to extract the corn milk.  Heat 1/3 cup milk in a large skillet over medium-high heat and add the corn.  Cook for 7-9 minutes, stirring occasionally, until corn is tender and most of the milk has been absorbed.  Let cool.

Add 2/3 cup of the cooked corn to a food processor along with the tofu, goat cheese, and lime juice.  Process until smooth, and add salt and pepper to taste.  Transfer to a serving bowl and stir in the remaining corn, tomato, and basil.  Taste and adjust seasoning if necessary.  Serve with tortilla chips or on bread.