Ash Wednesday refrain: Get thee from me, toffee sauce. But I'd like more strawberries, please.
There were strawberries from Spain at Tesco the other day, and they were so good I went back and got more. Strawberries here are nothing like the sour whitish creatures that grow in the States; those are enough to put one off strawberries, aren't they? No, every strawberry I've had here has been sweet enough that the pucker that automatically comes to mind when one envisions Mutant Whitish Strawberries never materializes. Nice.
With another kilo of strawberries, I decided to branch out and make strawberry parfait. It takes minutes to make, yet is special enough to serve guests. To lighten up my original recipe, I folded in a cup of whipped topping. (You can use dairy free Cool Whip-type topping, or if you're not vegan, use whatever whips your dress up.) There's no cholesterol, of course, and very little fat. I don't count calories, but I don't imagine there are very many lurking in one of these babies.
After my splurge on Fat Tuesday I'm looking askance at anything over twelve calories.
Strawberry Parfait
12 ounces firm silken tofu
1/4 - 1/2 cup sugar (depends on the sweetness of the strawberries)
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 1/2 cup sliced strawberries
Optional: 1 cup whipped topping
4 more strawberries for garnish
Place tofu into blender or food processor. Process until smooth. Add 1 1/2 cup strawberries, sugar, and vanilla. Blend until nothing much remains of the strawberries. (You might want to hold off adding all the sugar until you've tasted the results.)
Fold in whipped topping and pour into four parfait glasses. Top with reserved strawberries in some decorative pattern.
Note on ingredients: Silken tofu is the only tofu product that will work in this recipe. Remember, it's the shelf-stable product that comes in the aseptic package. It will last for a few months, so it's handy to keep a package or two on the shelf, for opportunistic parfait making.
