How Do You Make Vegan Pasta Sauce?

Hello, cutting season. Goodbye, bulking season.

I'll admit it: I kind of miss the abs I had a few months ago, when my body fat was in the single digits. Wondering what this has to do with vegan pasta sauce? Hang with me.

Right now, I'd estimate I'm around 13–14% body fat, and I can definitely feel the difference. My belly sticks out a little more, and there's even a pair of pants that doesn't quite button.

Good thing February is here, because today—actually, yesterday—I started my cutting phase.

What does that mean? I'll be taking in fewer calories than I burn, so my body draws on stored fat for energy.

And to help preserve the muscle I worked so hard to build over the winter, I'll keep my protein intake relatively high.

Last year I got down to 7% body fat, and wow. That was something!

Check back with me this summer and we'll see what happens. Maybe I'll throw in the towel along the way. Who knows… I miss seeing those veins pop and the way I felt.

Let's Talk Food—and Vegan Pasta Sauce

I made three 2-minute sauces that work beautifully with pasta. They're bright, gorgeous, and appetizing—and, just as important, they taste really good.

I think they'd be perfect for a romantic dinner. Just go easy on the garlic if you're planning on kissing afterward.

The base is silken tofu, a very soft tofu with a higher water content—that's what makes it so soft. It has fewer calories than regular tofu, along with less protein and fat.

Blend it with seasonings or vegetables and you get a light, slightly creamy sauce that's lovely with pasta, bread, or savory vegetable bakes.

To keep both our eyes and our bellies happy, I used colorful vegetables that give the sauces their gorgeous colors. And their flavor, of course.

Feel free to get creative and blend in other vegetables to see what you like. Try red bell peppers, spinach leaves, tomatoes—let your imagination take it from there.

If you'd like to replace the silken tofu, you can use the same amount of cooked white beans. The nutrition values will be different.

And if you're wondering whether regular tofu works, sorry—it's not a great swap here. The sauce will be less creamy and have a much stronger tofu flavor. Anyone have another idea for replacing the tofu, besides white beans?

You'll need a good blender that can handle fibrous vegetables. That said, I bought mine at the supermarket six months ago for 100 shekels (Israeli currency), and look at the lovely job it does.

How Do You Serve It?

A bowl of pasta with one of these sauces makes a great lunch, or a dinner before an endurance workout the next day.

Oh, and you could make this for Valentine's Day, too. Just saying.

Nutrition Information from Noam Bachar (an Israeli Fitness Trainer and Nutritionist):