Few adjectives signal a dish’s comforting nature the way “creamy” does. We seek literal and figurative softness in the rich and luscious. A gentle bowl of, say, creamy pasta alla vodka can be a small but welcome balm after a less-than-gentle day out in the world.
Creamy can also signal something more obvious: the presence of cream. But if you, like me, set out to satisfy a craving for pasta alla vodka over the weekend, and you, like me, subsequently guffawed at a nearly $8 pint of heavy cream, other paths to “creamy” may appeal.
Cream — or any dairy, for that matter — is hardly the only way.
Alexa Weibel’s latest recipe — roasted broccoli and whipped tofu with chile crisp crunch — is a textural marvel from bottom to top, starting with its creamy base. There’s no cream to be had. By blending silken tofu and cashew butter with a little water, she creates a fluffy, aerated, protein-packed whip on which to layer lightly charred vegetables and spicy cashew-flecked bread crumbs.
Roasted Broccoli and Whipped Tofu With Chile Crisp Crunch
Silken tofu and nut butter are great ways to add creaminess to vegan sweets, too: Just look at what silken tofu does in Mark Bittman’s vegan chocolate pudding with cinnamon and chile and what nut butter does in Genevieve Ko’s creamy vegan hot chocolate.
The creaminess in this lemony pasta from Christian Reynoso comes not from butter or cheese or heavy cream, but from hummus, store-bought or homemade. A little reserved pasta water thins out the dip enough to coat spaghetti or bucatini. “This recipe really impressed me!” wrote a reader.
It’s no secret coconut milk can lend shelf-stable, cost-effective creaminess to your cooking. But perhaps you need a reminder of how effectively it does that? Christian’s newish (and already five-star!) creamy butternut squash and coconut noodle soup is reminiscent of khao soi and will jog your memory, running you two cans of the good stuff for optimal silkiness.
Walk with me, out of the canned goods and refrigerated aisles and over to the produce section. We come to this place for creamy, too. Delight in what cauliflower can become when it is roasted, then simmered, then puréed, on display in Melissa Clark’s creamy cauliflower soup with harissa tomatoes. Lidey Heuck offers a milder but not less velvety take, fragrant with rosemary and lemon zest.
