Silken Tofu and Tahini Sauce - no oil

Finally I am getting a chance to post one of the recipes from last weekend. Thank goodness it is raining this morning. Normally I would prefer the sun but today I want to get some of the backlog of recipes posted so rain is fine, besides the plants like rain. I decided to start with this sauce because it is so versatile. I have made a version of this sauce for some time. This original came from the idea of using tahini and lemon (a traditional Middle Eastern sauce that is unpredictable for me). I added the tofu to lighten the mixture and give it predictable body. It worked like a charm. Last weekend I decided to eliminate the oil (in keeping with my recent cooking change) and did this by adding more sesame seeds. Another success …. gotta love that! This oil free modification was easier than most.

We use this with falafel, on salads, as a veggie dip. It can be used many ways. I hope you like it as much as we do. It is one of my favorite vegan sauces. Here is what I did.

Silken Tofu and Tahini Sauce - no oil
Makes approximately 14 ounces or 7 – ¼ cup servings

Ingredients:

12.3 ounces firm silken tofu, organic
4 tablespoons sesame seeds (or tahini if not using a high speed blender)
1 clove garlic, peeled (if the clove is huge or you don't love raw garlic start with 1/2 a clove)
1 tablespoon lemon juice
½ teaspoon kosher salt

Directions:

Place everything in your blender and process until smooth. If you are using a Vitamix the machine will grind the sesame seeds into tahini and the mixture will be smooth.  This sauce may get smooth using the sesame seeds in a traditional blender but I don't know that since I don't have one.  If you try it and it works I would love to know.

Store this sauce in the refrigerator in a covered container. It will last for 4 or 5 days, but may begin to separate a little after a few days. You can stir the mixture together and it is fine.

Nutritional Information:

Amount Per Serving
Calories - 61.54
Calories From Fat (55%) - 33.61

Total Fat - 3.9g
Saturated Fat - 0.56g
Cholesterol - 0mg
Sodium - 152.88mg
Potassium - 125.13mg
Total Carbohydrates - 2.73g
Fiber - 0.67g
Sugar - 0.7g
Protein - 4.38g

Comments:

If you like lemon as much as I do you can add lemon zest to this and it is wonderful. We use this sauce in place of sour cream. It has a similar texture but more flavor. I find this to be useful to have on hand.  I hope you love it as much as we do. :-)

Unrelated note:

This morning we had a mixed berry smoothie with oat bran. I doubled the amount of oat bran in the smoothie this morning and it didn’t alter the taste or texture of the smoothie. If you could use a little more fiber in your diet you may want to give this a try. It worked well for me. Be certain to grind the oat bran briefly in your blender first to turn it into a finer product so that it will easily be incorporated into the smoothie.  I am going to keep this in mind we we are running low on fiber.

For now I need to get a few things done here. But I plan to be back early this afternoon with another recipe from last weekend. Happy Friday everybody!