The case for a TofusgivingThere is a common refrain in creative fields: There are no bad ideas. I briefly began to doubt that last month, when I found myself in the New York Times Cooking studio kitchen endeavoring to make a Thanksgiving spread that featured tofu in every dish — even potatoes, even dessert — in roughly four hours. Not only have readers specifically asked me for at least some of this (“New, ideally vegan, tofu dish for a Thanksgiving centerpiece with plenty of umami and craveability?”), but I also know what tofu can do for home cooks the other 364 days of the year. It can make simple vegetable preparations heartier and add protein where desired. It can eliminate dairy from the equation for those who can’t tolerate it, or it can be the simple one-to-one meat swap to make a dish vegan. And certain tofu products, like various fermented bean curds, can make a dish richer and more savory. I can now say, with confidence and from experience, that tofu deserves prime real estate on your Thanksgiving table, even where you may least expect it. We’ve got the video to prove it.
Watch me cook a tofu Thanksgiving →To make my case for Tofusgiving, I wanted to take NYT Cooking holiday classics and fuse them with tofu recipes that use the ingredient in novel and smart ways. That’s how I ended up with my new recipe for vegan salted maple ginger pie, the Thanksgiving dessert of my ginger-loving dreams. Borrowing techniques from Isa Chandra Moskowitz’s vegan pumpkin cheesecake and flavors from Andrea Nguyen’s dòuhuā, a tofu pudding with a brown sugar ginger syrup, the egg-free custard in this pie is silky, rich and assertive. Starting from Isa’s cheesecake, I ended up swapping out all of the ground spices and extracts in favor of freshly grated ginger and maple extract, and leaned on maple syrup instead of white sugar. The cashews and silken tofu stayed, but I did away with pumpkin purée and banana in favor of a little Japanese sweet potato, which adds plenty of structure and cuts down on cornstarch. I switched up the crust and the topping, too, packing both with nutty pecans and making them gluten-free friendly. What else can you tofu on the Thanksgiving table? Turns out, a lot. If you’re feeling equally experimental, here’s a rough road map from my day in the studio. Enjoy! The centerpieceLast year, Sohla El-Waylly anchored her Thanksgiving spread with crispy sage fried chicken. I followed her lead, but, for a vegan take, swapped out the poultry in favor of seared and brined tofu that I tore into nuggets, then dredged and fried. I played around with brines and arrived at a familiar conclusion: Simple is best. Some brown sugar, some salt, some peppercorns, some sage. But an overnight brine is a must. I replaced the bouillon in Sohla’s original herb blend with nutritional yeast, and before adding it used about half of the blend to season the flour. Other holiday mains: Mushroom Bourguignon | Ombré gratin | Vegetarian shepherd’s pie The green vegetableKay Chun’s miso-gravy green beans can be made heartier with a showering of Ali Slagle’s breakfast tofu scramble, which mimics the flavors of a sausage or bacon crumble, especially if you add a splash of liquid smoke and amply crisp the tofu. More (tofu-free) green bean recipes: Cacio e pepe green beans | Vegan green bean casserole The orange vegetableThe first and most obvious mash-up when I set out on this journey was to replace the dairy in Hetty Lui McKinnon’s roasted spiced squash with whipped feta and pistachios with the nutty blended base in Alexa Wiebel’s roasted broccoli and whipped tofu with chile crisp. The tofu preparation is as easy as it gets: Just whirl together silken tofu and cashew butter. But it’s a framework worth riffing on for any of your holiday vegetable sides. Replace the dairy in … Charred green beans and lemony yogurt | Roasted brussels sprouts with cinnamon-butter yogurt and chestnut … with: Sesame whipped tofu | Whipped tofu ricotta The potatoShout out to my colleague Natasha Janardan, who, in a brainstorm for this video, had the genius idea of working the fuyu butter in Calvin Eng’s fuyu cacio e pepe mein into a potato preparation. Fuyu, a fermented bean curd, is soft and malleable, blending easily into butter and, it turns out, mashed potatoes. I landed on Claire Saffitz’s duchess-style twice-baked potatoes, which took especially well to a half-cup of the funky, peppery butter. On set, I played around with taking out the egg yolks in Claire’s original recipe, and they were umami-forward and rich each way. More potato recipes: Mashed potato casserole | Cheesy hasselback potato gratin | Vegan twice-baked potatoes
Miso Gravy-Smothered Green Beans
Roasted Spiced Squash With Whipped Feta and Pistachios
Duchess-Style Twice-Baked PotatoesFor a limited time, you can enjoy free access to the recipes in this newsletter in our app. Download it on your iOS or Android device and create a free account to get started. Email us at theveggie@nytimes.com. Newsletters are archived here. Reach out to my colleagues at cookingcare@nytimes.com if you have questions about your account.
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