Grilled Pineapple Tofu Cheesecake — a vegan dessert for everyone!

Seasonal Recipe of the Week
I have been working on some great new recipes I want to share. There are some great natural substitutes on the market which enable me to do yummy baking for the vegans in our lives. In particular, egg substitutes, which make baking possible. I also love to use cashews soaked in water overnight to make an amazing cream, add a little sriracha and you have a killer pasta sauce — BAM! But I digress, back to baking. This recipe combines silken tofu, cashew cream, banana, coconut oil, and pineapple to make a super delicious pie, even your carnivore eaters will love. Gotta soak those cashews overnight, so plan ahead! Makes one 8-inch cake.

Ingredients for crust
1 1/4 cup finely ground graham cracker (or any vegan cookies)
3 tablespoons sugar
4 tablespoons melted coconut oil
2 tablespoons almond milk

Ingredients for filling
1/2 cup raw cashews, soaked in water overnight
1/2 cup mashed ripe banana
14 ounces silken tofu, drained
2 tablespoons coconut oil, room temperature
2/3 cups sugar
4 teaspoons cornstarch
1/4 teaspoon fine sea salt
4 tablespoons fresh pineapple juice
Grated zest of 1 lime

Grilled pineapple slices for garnish
2 tablespoons toasted coconut for garnish

Procedure
Preheat oven to 350° and lightly spray an 8-inch springform pan with nonstick cooking spray.

To make the cookie crust, place the cookies in your food processor and pulse until you get fine crumbs. In a medium mixing bowl, stir together the cookie crumbs and sugar. Drizzle in the melted coconut oil and mix well to ensure the crumbs are moist. Pour in the almond milk and stir again to combine all ingredients. You might need to use your hands to blend the mixture to get a crumbly dough. Pour the crust mixture into the springform pan and press very firmly into the sides of the pan first and pat into the bottom. Bake for 10 minutes until firm. Remove from oven and place and let the crust cool completely before filling.

To make the filling, drain the soaked cashews and tofu. Add the cashews, mashed banana, tofu, coconut oil, sugar, cornstarch, sea salt, pineapple juice and lime zest to a blender and whizz until completely smooth and there aren't any small bit of cashew. Pour the batter over the crust and tap it lightly on the counter to get rid of any large air bubbles. Bake the cheesecake about 50 minutes, until the edges are golden and the top is lightly puffed and still looks a bit wet. Cool cake completely before adding the topping.

To decorate, cut thin rounds of fresh pineapple, remove center rind with small ring cutter. Grill in a very hot dry pan to get blackened marks. Let cool, then place rings on top of cake. Sprinkle with toasted coconut. Refrigerate cake overnight for best results.

Szechwan Broiled Tofu

Seasonal Recipe of the Week
I think it's time for a vegetarian entrée. I get called to work with tofu from time to time and I was very happy to find this broiled tofu salad recipe in Pamela Morgan’s Flavor cookbook.

Ingredients
3 pieces firm tofu drained, patted dry, and cut into 1/2 inch slices
4 tablespoons peanut oil
Shredded Napa cabbage and a few sprigs of watercress
5 teaspoons Hoisin sauce
5 teaspoons Asian Red Chile garlic paste (Sambal)
4 teaspoons rice wine vinegar
4 teaspoons tamari
1 tablespoon toasted dark sesame oil
1 tablespoon sugar
1 teaspoon Chile oil
1/3 cup scallions, diced on the diagonal

Procedure
Preheat your broiler and position oven rack about 3 inches below it. Take your cut tofu slices and lay them flat in a broiler pan, which you have covered with tin foil. Brush them on both sides with 1 tablespoon peanut oil. Broil till they are lightly browned on both sides carefully turning them over halfway through. This should take about 8 minutes total. Toss the cabbage and watercress together on a platter. Cool the tofu to room temperature and place on top of the greens. In a medium bowl, combine the remaining 3 tablespoons peanut oil with Hoisin sauce, chile garlic paste, vinegar, Tamari, sesame oil, hot Chile oil, and sugar. Adjust to match your desired hotness. Drizzle dressing over the tofu. Scatter green scallion over the top and serve at room temperature.

Tofu and Sugar Snap Peas in Lemongrass Broth

Seasonal Recipe of the Week
Okay, don’t laugh, we are doing a tofu recipe. Prepared correctly, tofu is delicious; handled poorly, it's useless, tasteless, and not worth eating. Deborah Madison knows how to do it right, and here is her recipe for Tofu and sugar snap peas in a lemongrass broth from Vegetarian Suppers which is very easy and delicious. I have added some options to make it Weight Watchers-appropriate. If this is not an issue for you, ignore those parts.

Ingredients
3 tablespoons fresh chopped lemongrass (available with the fresh herbs in most supermarkets)
2 slices fresh ginger
Grated zest of 1 lime
2 cilantro sprigs, plus some extra leaves for garnish
Salt to taste
1 tablespoon soy sauce or Thai fish sauce
1 tablespoon brown sugar, maple syrup, or sugar-free maple syrup
1 carton of soft packed tofu, drained
1 teaspoon peanut oil or olive oil
2 garlic cloves, thinly sliced
1/4 red onion, thinly sliced
2 scallions, sliced thinly on the diagonal
1/2 Jalapeno pepper, diced
A handful of sugar snap peas or asparagus tips
1/2 teaspoon turmeric
1 cup noodles or rice optional (brown rice or buckwheat noodles are “core”)
Lime wedges for garnish

Procedure
Put the first 4 broth ingredients in a saucepan with 1 1/2 cups water and a good pinch of salt and bring to the boil. Now simmer uncovered for 15 minutes, or until mixture is reduced to about 3/4 of a cup (about by half). Now strain out the flavoring solids and add the soy sauce and the maple or sugar. Taste to make sure you like the flavor. While the broth is simmering, drain the tofu and cut into cubes. Next, in a sauté pan, add the little bit of oil and get it hot. Add the garlic, onion, scallion and chile. Cook over high heat for 30 seconds, then add the sugar snap peas and the turmeric and the tofu. Pour in the reserved broth and simmer till the peas are bright green and tender. This will just take a few minutes. Taste for salt. If using, add the rice and or noodles now, personally I just leave them out. Pour into warmed bowls and garnish with cilantro leaves and a lime wedge. A tasty, healthy treat with all kinds of flavors — thank you, Deborah!

Broiled Szechwan Tofu Salad

Seasonal Recipe of the Week
Yes, even I eat and prepare Tofu on occasion, and when I found this recipe for Broiled Szechwan Tofu Salad in Pamela Morgan’s great book called Flavors from her gourmet foods to-go store in Manhattan (now gone), I knew this should be the recipe of the week.

Ingredients
3 pieces firm tofu, about 2 1/2 pounds, drained and patted dry and sliced 1/2 inch thick
4 tablespoons peanut oil
3 cups shredded Napa cabbage
Handful of watercress
5 teaspoons Hoisin sauce
5 teaspoons Sambal (Thai red Chile sauce)
4 teaspoons rice wine vinegar
4 teaspoons Tamari
1 tablespoon dark toasted sesame oil
1 tablespoon sugar
1 teaspoon Asian hot Chile oil (optional)
1/3 cup scallions, chopped on the diagonal

Procedure
Position a rack about 3 inches from your broiler and preheat. Cover your broiling pan or sheet pan with tin foil and lay tofu slices in pan. Brush both sides with peanut oil. Broil for 4 minutes and carefully, with a wide spatula, turn then over and broil on other side. Cook till lightly browned. Take a platter and cover it with 3 cups of shredded Napa cabbage and watercress. Top with slightly overlapped slices of tofu. Now combine the rest of the ingredients (except the scallions, which you will use as garnish), to make this spicy dressing. Drizzle dressing over tofu and top with scallions. Serve at room temperature.