Nutrition Educator Part 2~Chocolate Silk Pie with Tofu

The other week I was teaching a lesson on lean protein and was discussing meat alternatives that provide protein. We started to discuss different ways to mask the flavor of soy and tofu if you are a tofu newbie.  I remembered this awesome chocolate pie that Aaron made in grad school and told the class about it. 

Here's a Chocolate Silk Pie recipe.   If someone told me that you could mask the soy flavor of tofu in pie, I would not believe it either, but this pie is delicious! I think it's the chocolate and the coffee that masks the soy flavors.
Ingredients
Crust
1 prepared pie crust (I wanted it to be extra chocolaty so I bought an Oreo crust)

Filling
1 cup chocolate chips, melted
12 ounces silken tofu, drained
1 teaspoon vanilla

The tofu has to be a "Silken" or soft tofu. I haven't tried making the pie with firm tofu, but I'd imagine that a firm tofu may result in a gritty texture or you will end up spending more time blending the tofu.

I used Girardhelli's 60% cocoa chips because I like the rich flavor of dark chocolate.  Plus I think it tastes better than Nestle morsels, but is cheaper than a Scharffen Berger or Valrhona chocolate chips. I use Girardhelli chocolate chips in most of my baking because it's a happy medium between quality and price.

Tofu in the blender

Directions
Melt chocolate chips over the lowest heat. Meanwhile in a food processor or blender, blend tofu and all the other ingredients until very smooth. Add melted chocolate and blend again until smooth. Pour into prepared crust. Cover and refrigerate.

*Disclaimer-I am not saying that this is a "healthy" dish.  It is healthier than an original chocolate pie recipe containing egg yolks and heavy cream.  It still has to be eaten in moderation.

During the class, we discussed how to read "Nutrition Facts" labels, how to calculate Calories from different macronutrients and compared the Nutrition Facts between the pie containing tofu and a chocolate pie.