Creamy Vegan Dishes and The Perfect Baked Potato

Creamy Vegan Dishes

The secret to a creamy, fast, and delicious dinner is the combination of silken-style tofu and a good blender. Want to make "creamy" soups or sauces? No problem. When you use tofu, you won't have the problems associated with dairy cooking, such as the milk curdling or flour clumping in the sauce.

Soup's On

To make fast creamy vegan soups, you'll need silken tofu, condensed canned soup, a blender, and a stove. Place the can of soup in the blender. Use tofu for half the amount of water or milk called for on the can. Use water or soymilk for the other half of the liquid. Blend until smooth and creamy. Pour the mixture into a pot, heat gently, stirring, until hot and bubbly. If you can't locate vegan condensed canned soup, you can use any vegan canned soup (such as those from Imagine Foods, Westbrae, Hain foods, etc.) and instead of using tofu for half the amount of water or milk called for on the can, use tofu for 1/4 of the amount of water or milk.

If you don't want to use canned soup, or if you have leftover cooked vegetables, you can make your own "signature" soup. Purée 1 cup of cooked vegetables, such as frozen mixed vegetables or cooked carrots, celery, and onions. Add 1/2 cup silken tofu and 1/2 cup water. Blend until combined. Add mixture to a pot, heat, and stir. Add seasonings, such as pepper, dried garlic, dried onion, sage, tarragon, or basil for flavor.

Creamy corn chowder is easy. Purée 1 cup of drained, canned or cooked frozen cut corn with 1 cup of tofu. Sauté 1/4 cup chopped onions and 1 clove of garlic. Combine and heat, adding white pepper, 1/4 cup chopped celery, and some diced cooked potatoes. You can add some more cooked, not puréed corn, if you would like more "chew" to your soup.

Get Saucy. . .

To make a creamy tomato sauce, use tomato purée, tofu, and tomato juice or vegetable juice cocktail. Purée and heat. Cover firm tofu with creamy tomato sauce and bake for a fast entrée. Add chopped tomatoes and cooked beans to creamy tomato sauce and you have an entrée sauce that you can serve over pasta, potatoes, or even toasted French bread.

The Rest is Just Gravy

To make a creamy mushroom gravy, use vegan canned mushroom soup, tofu, and water. Prepare as described above. While heating the gravy, add canned or fresh sliced mushrooms. Serve over baked potatoes, baked or steamed tofu (you can heat tofu in the microwave for a fast dish), rice, or pasta.

Don't Leave Those Leftovers

Leftover baby food veggies? Blend puréed spinach with tofu and a bit of water. While heating and stirring, add garlic, chopped basil, and diced pine nuts, and you'll have a fast pesto. Don't make a face; it's good! Puréed carrots and tofu make a golden sauce that can be spiced up with ginger, cloves, and pineapple and served over sweet potatoes, couscous, or jasmine rice.

The Perfect Baked Potato

A properly baked potato is a thing of beauty. It can be a soothing snack or the basis of a hot, welcome-home meal. Keep several white and sweet potatoes on hand. Be sure to select baking potatoes, such as Russets, Idahos, or Oregon-type potatoes.

If you can, store your potatoes, unwashed, in a cool, dark cupboard, pantry, or drawer. Cold temperatures, like the ones in your refrigerator, allow the potatoes to convert a lot of their sugar to starch. This results in a less sweet potato.

Wash and scrub your potatoes under cold, running water. Get them really clean, so you can eat the skin. Don't soak them; that will make them soggy. Don't use hot water or you'll start cooking the outside and the inside won't catch up.

We know it looks really pretty when restaurants serve a potato charmingly wrapped in silvery foil. If you wrap potatoes, you will wind up steaming them. Oven-steamed potatoes are fine, but they just won't have that crispy skin and that roasted potato flavor. You also run the risk of getting a soggy potato, as the excess moisture can't escape. Oven-baked (cooked in the oven without a wrapper) potatoes will be crispy on the outside and flaky on the inside. You can use the same technique for both white and sweet potatoes (sweet potatoes will leak when cooking, so keep foil on the rack below them to catch those sticky drips).

Into the oven: You'll have to get to know your oven. You'll want it very hot, around 400 degrees for a standard oven. Allow washed potatoes to dry, prick in several places, place on an ungreased baking sheet, and allow to bake until a fork can poke a hole easily in the center. This can take anywhere from 30 minutes to two hours, depending on your oven. While you are at it, bake several extra potatoes and cut them into soups, use in salads, or reheat the next day. If you would like to add some additional flavor, you can rub the skins of washed, dried potatoes with the cut end of a fresh garlic clove or onion, and rub in soy sauce or lightly rub in seasoned vegetable oil (oil in which you've sprinkled your favorite dry herb, such as black pepper, onion flakes, or ground sage).

Or nuke 'em: Read through your microwave manual to see approximately how long it will take to microwave a potato (microwaved potatoes are closer to steamed, rather than baked, potatoes, due to the nature of microwave cooking). Some microwaves take as few as three minutes, some take eight minutes. If you don't have a turntable, rotate your potato at least once during the cooking process. Don't burn your fingers! To pierce or not to pierce depends on which urban myth you believe (and how brave you are). Many people tell me they never pierce their potatoes before microwaving. Being the kitchen-wimp that I am, I cannot comment on the reliability of the non-pierced potato. Piercing the potato will not affect the flavor or nutrient value (nothing escapes in the small amount of steam let off during cooking). Follow directions for oven-baked potatoes concerning doneness and flavoring.