Love for Food

(Almost) Vegan Chocolate Pudding. The texture might look a little funny because I froze mine a tad to get a firmer consistency. It created a little bit of ice.
I jumped to sign up for a anti-cancer Whole Foods Cooking class. I would love to tell you it's because the dishes were all healthy eats or because it was charity, but that was not it. my eyes zeroed in on FREE* and I signed up to reserve my spot. Turns out the class was sponsored by The Cancer Project. Free* meant that they expected a $20+ donation. The Cancer Project is a non-profit that boasts that anywhere from 30-60% of cancer is caused by our diet. The other 40% comes from genes, environment, etc. The next question than becomes, what do you eat to help prevent cancer? Vegan! was the answer. I'm not one to buy into being a vegan. I believe you can be very healthy and eat a little meat, fish, or dairy. It was very intriguing though. What was left to eat? Everything I eat has some sorta animal product thrown in.
This is what we made: Lentil Artichoke Stew, Humus, Mango Spinach Salad, and Chocolate Pudding. The lentil stew was so so, it was basically a lentil soup. The humus was nothing special either. The salad was OK but since they try to control for fat (no oil), it was a bit sour. I was impressed by the pudding. Now you see, the pudding is made with chocolate chips. Chocolate chips have milk and therefore it isn't a true vegan dish. The instructor claimed that the little bit of milk damage would be offset by the antioxidant power or a semi-sweet chocolate. If you can make one exception, I don't see how you can't make others. It seems to lead you down a slippery slope. Since I'm not a vegan, it was no issue for me.
The chocolate pudding was actually called chocolate mouse but was no way near the consistency of a mouse. It was thinner, like a pudding. You cannot tell that this is a healthy dish. It is VERY chocolaty because you use real chocolate and melt it into the mixture. I wanted to share this recipe with my fellow foodies because everyone at that class was impressed. Yum! And if you're like me and trying to eat healthy and keep off those pounds, it's a GUILT FREE dessert! I did the math to only 3 WW points per serving. The tofu also has protein, in case you are still a little hungry after that diet dinner.Ingredients: Serves Five
1/2 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips1/2 cup non-dairy milk
1 12.3-ounce packages low-fat silken tofu (**Make sure to use firm or it will be too runny!!)
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

Method:

• Place chocolate chips and non-dairy milk in a microwave-safe bowl and microwave for 1 minute. Let sit for 2 minutes.
• Place tofu, vanilla, and chocolate chip/non-dairy milk mixture in a food processor or blender and process until smooth. Transfer into small individual serving dishes and chill for 2 hours in the refrigerator or 30 minutes in the freezer.

Weight Watcher Points: