Plant Based U

Fat-Free and Low Fat Vegan Plant Based Recipes

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Silken Tofu Plant Based Tzatzki Sauce (Vegan, Oil and Dairy Free)

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Silken Tofu Vegan Oil Free Tzatziki Sauce

Looking for a deliciously cool dip or sauce for veggies, wraps, or Greek pita sandwiches? This recipe is super easy and uses silken tofu instead of yogurt for the base. Tofu actually is processed like cheese is taking a “milk” and adding coagulant and then separating the curds from the whey in most cases.



Silken tofu is set with the soy bean whey in it, so it’s a little softer and creamier. Which makes it a great substitute for dairy when you want a creamy base and because it’s less processed than soy yogurts it’s usually cheaper too.

Silken Tofu Vegan Oil Free Tzatziki Sauce

Silken Tofu Tzatziki (Vegan and Oil Free)

Ingredients:
3 tbsp fresh lemon juice
1 12oz pkg firm Mori-nu silken tofu, drained (make sure to use firm, soft will be too runny for dip but maybe ok for salad dressing)
2-3 large garlic cloves
2 tbsp raw unsalted cashews or pine nuts (Soaked and drained if you don’t have a high powered blender)
1/2 tsp Herbamare or sea salt, or to taste
1/8 tsp ground black or white pepper
1 English cucumber deseeded, peeled and grated
2 tbsp fresh dill, chopped (or 2 tsp dried)



Directions:

  1. Combine lemon juice, tofu, garlic, cashews, salt and pepper into food processor or blender and blend until creamy.
  2. Taste test and add more lemon juice, salt or pepper if desired.
  3. Squeeze out all of the excess water from the grated cucumber with your hands or with a spoon through a mesh strainer.
  4. Stir in the fresh dill and strained cucumber.
  5. Store in a container and refrigerate a few hours before serving.



Use within 3-4 days for best results due to the nature of fresh ingredients.

What are you going to serve with your Tzatziki?



Low Fat Herbed Tofu Ranch Dip (With Silken Tofu)

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Low Fat Vegan Chef's Herbed Tofu Ranch Dip

Readers often ask if I have a secret recipe for making veggie dip – but without all the fat (and the guilt should someone eat say half or the whole recipes while snacking on veggies…) And so I wanted to share this recipe for Herbed Tofu Ranch Dip from Comfort Foods From Around The World. This recipe is incredibly easy to make and hopefully you have most of these ingredients on hand. What I like to do is actually buy parsley, cilantro and green/spring onions fairly regularly and keep them in a little water fanned out to retain moisture without the leaves getting slimy and breaking down. Having some fresh herbs on hand to add to your salads, smoothies and to use as garnishes for curries and soups is wonderful so I highly recommend it.



What I love about making homemade dips is that I can customize the recipe to MY tastes – and you can to. If you looooove lemon, add a little more, if you looove garlic add a little more etc. Learn to work within your palate and taste test your homemade salad dressings and dips and get them just right so you want to make them again and again.

Since giving up dairy my mom has craved a creamy ranch dip for her veggies, so I made this recipe for her and loved it so much it ended up in my cookbook. I hope that it becomes one of your favorite veggie dips too!

That’s all for today, still trying to take it easy on my hands and not type too much as they fatigue quite quickly still.

Low Fat Vegan Chef's Herbed Tofu Ranch Dip

Herbed Tofu Ranch Dip

 
Serves 4

Ingredients:

1 12.3 oz. / 349 g package firm silken tofu (like mori-nu)
2 Tbsp. lemon juice
1 clove of garlic
1 tsp. granulated onion
1/2 tsp. nutritional yeast
2 tsp. maple syrup or liquid sweetener of choice
1/4 tsp. Herbamare or salt
Fresh ground pepper
1 Tbsp. parsley, chopped
2 Tbsp. green/spring onions, sliced (green tops only)

Directions:

1. Place ingredients (except for parsley and green onions) into blender or Vita-Mix and blend until smooth. Taste and adjust salt and pepper if desired. Add parsley and green onions and blend on medium high until the pieces are broken up a bit and distributed evenly.

2. Refrigerate if desired before serving. Serve with veggies or rice crackers.

Nutrition Facts: 4 Servings, Amount Per Serving: Calories 75.3 Total Fat 2.4 g Saturated Fat 0.4 g Sodium 202.3 mg Total Carbohydrate 7.7 g Dietary Fiber 0.2 g Sugars 5.3 g Protein 6.2 g

Additional Notes:

It is important to use SILKEN tofu, not regular tofu even if it’s soft tofu. It will not have a nice smooth “dairy like” texture. Silken tofu is as the name sounds, silky smooth without any grit which is perfect as a dairy/cream substitute in dips, sauces and salad dressings. It is readily available at most grocery stores and health food stores in the Asian section of the store. Usually it is not refrigerated as the mori nu brand are shelf stable.

Lebanese Tahini Sauce For Falafels

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I love making homemade dips and sauces! I find them SO much more flavorful than the store bought ones.  The other day I made some baked falafels I bought from Trader Joe’s and I wanted some tasty tahini sauce to serve them with. This is the dip I came up with. It would also be delicious to serve some taboulli salad with your tahini dip and falafels as well.

photo from WhatsGoodAtTraderJoes

You can also use this as a spread for pita wraps/sandwiches, to dip pita in, crackers, veggies, chips, etc. It tastes a little like hummus but without the chickpeas.

Tahini Dip For Falafels

Serves 4

Ingredients:

1/2 cup tahini
1/2 cup water
2 cloves of garlic
3-4 tbsp lemon juice
salt & pepper to taste

Directions:

1. Combine ingredients in a blender or food processor and blend until smooth and creamy. Season to taste with salt and pepper.

2. Serve with falafel, veggies or pita.

Have you ever had tahini dip before? What do you like to serve it with?

(Oil-Free) Low Fat Vegan Chickpea Hummus Recipe

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Low Fat Vegan Chef's (Oil Free) Low Fat Chickpea Hummus Recipe

Ah hummus! The classic Mediterranean staple dip (and staple of many vegan sandwich lovers). I usually always make my own hummus at home as the store-bought ones are #1 usually expensive for the amount you get, and #2 have a lot of oil and salt in them and make each tablespoon higher calorie than necessary.

Hummus is basically cooked chickpeas, pureed with tahini (sesame seed butter), garlic, lemon, salt and sometimes olive oil. Babaghanoush (Eggplant Hummus) is very similar but it has roasted eggplant in it for a slightly different flavour. If you’ve never seen tahini before it’s generally in the nut butter/peanut butter section of the health food store, or some grocery stores. Tahini also available at ethnic markets and Indian and Middle Eastern stores. You can also find tahini on Amazon.



If you’ve made your own homemade hummus before you probably use olive oil in it too, but I want to show you a way to make a much lower fat hummus that is great if you REALLY like hummus and put it on everything. This way you’ll cut out excess calories you won’t even miss and still get that delicious creamy hummus flavour.

So I got into the kitchen and made this chickpea hummus using canned chickpeas, as that’s what most of you are going to do. (I use the salt free variety.) BUT you are more than welcome to use fresh cooked chickpeas. I prefer them and cook them with some kombu (seaweed) and bay leaves to give them a delicious flavour.

If you’re into really decadent high fat dips, you should try switching to my hummus recipe to have a new better for you dip to serve to your friends and family with fresh pita, veggies or chips.

For this recipe you’re going to need a food processor. I use an 8 cup Cuisinart that I bought in Costa Rica (when I lived there) and it’s not a recent model or anything but it does the job. A hand crank food processor will probably not be good enough as this is quite a thick dip. You can get a basic Hamilton Beach food processor fairly cheap on Amazon like this one.



BTW this recipe is featured in my Vegan Comfort Foods From Around the World recipe ebook. So check it out! It’s got over 60 deliciously savory and satisfying recipes you’re going to love!

Low Fat Vegan Chef's Low Fat Oil Free Chickpea Hummus Recipe

(Oil-Free) Low Fat Vegan Chickpea Hummus

From Comfort Foods From Around The World 

Ingredients:

1 15 oz./425 g can chickpeas (no salt) or 1 3/4 cup of fresh cooked chickpeas
1-2 small cloves of garlic (depending on how spicy you like it)
1 1/2 tbsp filtered water (this is replacing the oil)
3-4 tbsp lemon juice (depending on how lemony you like it)
1 1/2 tbsp tahini (sesame seed butter)
1/4 tsp Herbamare (original) or salt (or none if you are using salted canned chickpeas)
Fresh ground pepper to taste *optional

Directions:

  1. Drain and rinse the chickpeas (only drain if fresh cooked) and set aside.
  2. Add the garlic clove(s) to the food processor and pulse until chopped up. Stop the food processor.
  3. Add the chickpeas, filtered water, lemon juice (start with less and add more if desired) and pulse the chickpeas until they are fairly broken up. Depending on how strong your food processor is when they are broken up you can let it run for a few seconds or just keep pulsing until it’s a little smooth. Stop the food processor. Taste test and add more lemon if desired.
  4. Add the tahini, Herbamare (if desired) and a little fresh ground pepper. Let it run until everything is creamed up. Taste test and adjust any additional salt, pepper, lemon or water (for consistency). Your hummus should be creamy with no chunks left.
  5. Serve with veggies, pita or baked chips if desired.



Generally people will not be able to tell there is no oil in this dip. It will be creamy and tangy, it will just seem lighter and fluffier to them. Skipping the oil in recipes is a great way to trim that waist line and satisfy your desire for savory dishes without the guilt!

Do you like hummus? What do you serve it with? Have you ever made oil free hummus before?