The Veggie
You don’t need dairy to get that luscious, comforting texture. Case in point: this new roasted broccoli and whipped tofu with chile crisp crunch.
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Few adjectives signal a dish’s comforting nature the way “creamy” does. We seek literal and figurative softness in the rich and luscious. A gentle bowl of, say, creamy pasta alla vodka can be a small but welcome balm after a less-than-gentle day out in the world.
Creamy can also signal something more obvious: the presence of cream. But if you, like me, set out to satisfy a craving for pasta alla vodka over the weekend, and you, like me, subsequently guffawed at a nearly $8 pint of heavy cream, other paths to “creamy” may appeal.
Cream — or any dairy, for that matter — is hardly the only way.
Alexa Weibel’s latest recipe — roasted broccoli and whipped tofu with chile crisp crunch — is a textural marvel from bottom to top, starting with its creamy base. There’s no cream to be had. By blending silken tofu and cashew butter with a little water, she creates a fluffy, aerated, protein-packed whip on which to layer lightly charred vegetables and spicy cashew-flecked bread crumbs.
Roasted Broccoli and Whipped Tofu With Chile Crisp Crunch
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Silken tofu and nut butter are great ways to add creaminess to vegan sweets, too: Just look at what silken tofu does in Mark Bittman’s vegan chocolate pudding with cinnamon and chile and what nut butter does in Genevieve Ko’s creamy vegan hot chocolate.
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