Tag: herbs

Vegan mayo?!! Have you ever tried this before? So, so, so easy…and you can substitute your favorite oil or dial up the flavors with garlic, pepper flakes, chipotle, or whatever strikes your flavor fancy!

Here’s my favorite version of hand made vegan mayo. This is inspired again by Fuss Free Vegan. And if you’ve read my other posts but still don’t own this book you need to go out and get it. Sam has some of the easiest and tastiest vegan recipes that will help you build a successful repertoire of go to meals and goodies.

Please note that there are two mayo making videos on my YouTube channel. I decided that even though my theme was 2 minute condiments this recipe is so easy to do that i needed to show you just how easy by running the video in real time. Simple makes like these condiments can really change up your cooking and also save you money. A commercial jar of mayonnaise retails around here for anywhere between $5 and $7 dependent on brand or size. This recipe might have cost me about $3.00-ish with the most expensive part being your choice of oil. Food for thought (literally).

Vegan Mayo my way 🙂

1 cup oil…I used no taste olive oil in the video but you can use your favorite. Virgin olive oil, sunflower, grapeseed…pick one that you like the flavor of.
1/2 cup unsweetened soy milk. Again you could experiment with other milks, oat or almond, but my go to is soy milk. Just make sure whatever you try is unsweetened. Mayo with sugar is, well, just awful.
1 teaspoon apple cider vinegar
1 teaspoon lemon juice. I always use more but I like the tang lemons give to the mayo. Use your own judgement and taste buds.
salt and pepper to taste

Put the non-dairy milk, vinegar, and lemon juice into a high speed blender or, in the video, I used a stick blender and placed my ingredients into a tall container built for the tool. (the stick blender is easier to clean and works great) With the stick blender you will whiz up the mixture with your dominant hand and slowly pour the oil with the other. If using a regular style high speed blender you will run the blender while pouring the oil in slowly. Continue until all the oil has been poured in. Taste your creation and add salt, pepper, or in my case, extra lemon juice to whatever levels you like. I recommend starting with very small amounts and working up. Give it a last spin and you’re done!

At this point you can also add you other flavors…garlic, onion, dill, curry power, chipotle, a little mustard…whatever your favorites are.

Store your mayo in a closed container in the fridge for about a week. If it lasts that long. Use it with anything you would normally use regular mayo with. Sandwich spread, salad dressings, potato or pasta salad…what ever you like! This is a great alternative for anyone with an egg allergy.

Enjoy it and I hope you’ll let me know how you liked it.

Until next time,

Susan

Oh my gosh …this stuff is so good! Who knew that cashews could make sour cream?

When I was first playing with vegan recipes I thought they would all be complicated, too difficult, and hugely time consuming. Wrong! This recipe, although a condiment and not a meal, is an example of how easy it is to eliminate animal based products from your diet. Inspired by the cookbook Fuss Free Vegan my rendition of the recipe is as follows. (if you don’t own that book you need to go get it!)

1 cup raw cashews…now you can put these into a container, cover them with water and soak for a minimum of 6 hours (you can keep some in the fridge if you’re using them a lot) OR you can cheat. I boil water, throw the cashews into a heat proof container (usually a Pyrex measuring cup), cover them with the boiling water and wait about 15 minutes. I find this works well when I don’t have cashews soaking in the fridge and I’m in a time crunch.

1/2 cup water
1-3 teaspoons of lemon juice. I like quite a bit of lemon juice, sometimes even as much as a 1/4 cup, but some may not. For me it really kicks up the “sour” of the sour cream.
1 teaspoon of apple cider vinegar
salt and pepper to taste

Get your cashews ready. Then put them, the water, a teaspoon of lemon juice, and the vinegar into a high speed blender. I used my bullet blender in the video and if you have one it works great for these smaller recipes. Whiz all this up for a minute or so scraping the sides as you blend. If using the bullet make sure you stop and give it a shake then put it back on to blend some more. I stop after a bit and just rub a little bit of the cream between my fingers. If it feels smooth you know the nuts have been thoroughly blended. If you feel a slight grit then just keep blending. Also make sure to taste your creation and add salt and/or pepper (and maybe more lemon juice) to your liking. Always start with very small amounts and work up to more.

Put your sour cream into a closed container in the fridge and it’s even better the next day when all the flavors meld together. I find it keeps for about a week.

Use it on anything you would normally put sour cream on. Spicy food, quesadillas, chili, nachos…all your favorites!

I hope you’ll try it and let me know what you think.

Until next time,

Susan