Chocolate Peanut Butter Pie, An Unlikey Thanksgiving Tradition

 

In addition to the traditional mashed potatoes, yams, cranberries, stuffing, and tofurky, I like to round out my Thanksgiving meal with some chocolate peanut butter pie.  It's ridiculously easy to make, in fact there's no baking required.  I don't even measure the ingredients!  Here's what you need:

• A block of firm tofu
• A small bag of vegan chocolate chips
• Some peanut butter, preferably smooth but it really doesn't matter
• A teensy splash of vanilla
• A graham cracker crust

Here's what to do:

1.  Chop the tofu up coarsely and put it in a blender.

2.  Add a lot of peanut butter.

3.  Melt the chips is a double boiler.  If you don't have one, do what I do: Put a smaller saucepan with the chips inside a bigger pot filled with boiling water.  Stir the chips until they melt.  You could probably melt them in a microwave too.

4.  Put the melted chips in the blender.

5.  Add a small bit of vanilla.

6.  Blend until smooth.

7.  Pour the mixture into the pre-made pie crust, let it set in the fridge for an hour or so.

Even the non-vegetarians and kids loved this pie, and it couldn't be easier.

To satisfy my love of all things pumpkin, I also make a deliciously traditional spicy pumpkin pie from Lorna Sass' Complete Vegetarian Kitchen.  It's essentially firm tofu, pumpkin puree, cinnamon, ginger, cloves, allspice, nutmeg, and maple syrup blended together and poured in a prepared graham cracker crust.  You do have to bake it for 30 minutes and let it set in the fridge for a few hours, but it's totally worth the wait.