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Tofu Creamed Spinach

"A good alternative to higher-fat versions of creamed spinach, silken tofu is pureed with milk, cheese, and seasonings, then added to spinach sauteed with onions and garlic. Serve it to anyone, and don't tell them there's tofu in it until they've already eaten some. If you like, pan fry some thinly sliced mushrooms with the onion and garlic, or add some canned mushrooms with the spinach. You could also add a little crushed red pepper for heat and sprinkle some extra cheese on top for serving."

By allrecipes · From Open Recipes · 10 ingredients
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Why it works: Spinach and tofu work together. They rank in the top 4% of all ingredient pairs, and 118 recipes mention both. Both carry 1-octen-3-ol, which smells mushroom, earthy. The science ↓

The recipe

8 servings
Prep20 min
Cook10 min

Ingredients

Contains: milk, soy (auto-detected from the ingredients and method; we can miss things, so check labels)

Directions

Method written by CompKitchen from the ingredient list. Not the original author's method, not kitchen-tested.

  1. Drain the tofu, pat it dry, and blend it with the milk or soy milk in a blender or food processor until completely smooth. Set aside.

  2. Melt the butter with the olive oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Add the chopped onion and cook for 4 minutes, stirring, until soft.

  3. Add the minced garlic and cook for 1 minute until fragrant.

  4. Add the spinach in batches, stirring as it wilts. Cover and cook for 3 to 4 minutes. A splash of water is fine if the pan looks dry.

  5. Uncover the skillet and cook for 1 to 2 minutes, stirring, until most of the liquid has evaporated.

  6. Stir in the blended tofu mixture and cook for 2 minutes until heated through.

  7. Stir in the Parmesan or Asiago cheese until melted and smooth. Season with garlic powder, salt, and pepper to taste.

  8. Serve hot.

By allrecipes. Recipe from Open Recipes.

Explore the science

The flavor team

The pairs that carry this dish. Each one is judged two ways: how much aroma chemistry they share, and how many recipes mention both.

  1. Spinach + tofutop 4% of all pairs
    Aroma overlapmoderate
    Mentioned together118 recipes

    Shared aroma: 1-octen-3-ol (mushroom, earthy).

  2. Onion + garlictop 1% of all pairs
    Aroma overlapstrong
    Mentioned together29,030 recipes

    Shared aroma: furaneol (caramel, strawberry).

  3. Garlic + spinachtop 3% of all pairs
    Aroma overlapmoderate
    Mentioned together2,433 recipes

    Shared aroma: 1-hexanol (resin, flower).

  4. Olive + garlictop 3% of all pairs
    Aroma overlapmoderate
    Mentioned together23,449 recipes

    Shared aroma: linalool (floral, citrus).

  5. Butter + milktop 3% of all pairs
    Aroma overlapstrong
    Mentioned together81,222 recipes

    Shared aroma: (z)-4-heptenal (biscuit, cream).

Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs

Flavor stand-ins for the onion

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (butter, olive, garlic, spinach, tofu, milk, cheese):

  1. Tomatobetter flavor fit
  2. Potatobetter flavor fit
  3. Onionthe original
  4. Capsicumabout as good a flavor fit

Fit is the average pairing score against butter, olive, garlic, spinach, tofu, milk, cheese. Candidates are from the same food group and used in at least 100 recipes. This compares flavor only: it does not check the job the ingredient does in the dish (bulk, moisture, acidity, structure).