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Substitutes for meat, dairy, and eggs
Sat, 04/10/2010 - 20:54 — Eve
Many old favorite recipes can be given new life with simple substitutions. Please add your ideas!
Many old favorite recipes can be given new life with simple substitutions. Please add your ideas!
Meat substitutes
In any recipe calling for chunks of meat, try chunks of seitan, tempeh or portobello mushroom. Portobellos can also be used whole (stem removed) as a burger.
An example with----
seitan---made from wheat gluten, in the cooler section of your grocery--- Winter Vegetable Potpie
tempeh---fermented soybean cake, also in the cooler section--- Tempeh Kheema
chopped portobello: An Imitation of Arthur's Portobellos & Chard Over Rice
whole portobello: Portobello Mushroom Burgers ; also Pan Seared Portobello Mushrooms
Dairy substitutes
BUTTER
Margarine or oil.
In baking, butter can be replaced with an equal amount of applesauce.
Make your own butter using coconut oil (it does have a bit of coconut flavor): Better Butter
or using cocoa butter (tastes like dairy butter but is more complicated to make):http://mindfulcooking.org/recipes/buttah
CHEESE
Raw Cashew cheese--spreadable, can replace jack or ricotta -- Raw Cashew Cheese
Nacho cashew cheese---spreadable, somewhat cheddary flavor-- Nacho Cheese
Cashew ricotta--- Cashew Ricotta Cheeze
Walnut Parm---to sprinkle on things -- Walnut Parm
Simplest all-purpose cheese substitute---nutritional yeast in a shaker; sprinkle on pasta, add to soups and sauces whenever you want a cheesy flavor
CREAM
Cashew cream---5/8 c. cashews blended with water to a creamy consistency= about one cup cream
as in Cream of Celery Root Soup
see also Cashew Cream
CREAMINESS can also be achieved with:
parsnips ---as in Creamy Celery-Parsnip Soup
avocado---add 1/2 avocado per 3 servings of any vegetable soup, as in Spinach Avocado Soup
potato ---as in Pureed Vegetable Soup with Broccoli Florets
CREAM CHEESE
Soy-- Soy-yoghurt Cream Cheese
MAYONNAISE
Cashew -- Cashew Goo ( a kind of mayonnaise)
MILK
Plant-based milks are available in tetrapak boxes in the grocery aisle and can be stored at room temperature until needed.
soy milk
rice milk
hemp milk
almond milk, etc.
SOUR CREAM
Cashew--- Cashew Sour Cream
Silken-Tofu---- Silken-Tofu Sour Cream
Tofu-- Tofu Sour Cream
SWEET CREAM TOPPING
Cashew-- Vanilla Creme Sauce
Cashew-date-- Cashew Whipped Creme or Frosting
Macadamia nut-- Cream Whip
Many dairy substitutes are also available in the cooler section of the grocery store.
new egg substitute available
There is a new egg substitute on the market. See http://eatneat.com/neategg/
no soy, non-GMO, gluten free, can use for baking
substitute for one egg is 1 tablespoon of this powder +2 tablespoons of water
Egg substitutes
In baking, eggs can be replaced with Ener-G Egg Replacer, a powder made from potato starch and tapioca starch, or any of the substitutes listed below:
One egg
= 1 & 1/2 tsp. Ener-G mixed with 2 T. water
= 2 T. ground flax seed mixed into 3 T. water (some sources say 1 T. flaxmeal in 3 T. water)----let stand about 5 minutes
= 1 T. chia seed mixed with 4 T. water --- let stand 15 minutes ---or----grind the chia seed and use 1 T. to 3 T. water
= 1/4 c. pureed fruit (e.g. applesauce)
= 1/4 c. drained soft tofu
= 1/2 banana, mashed
One source suggests adding 1/2 tsp. baking powder if you use fruit or tofu.
meat substitutes
There are a number of vegan "meat" patties available now. I like black bean/chipotle burger patties from Costco, and their pseudo sausage is a full-on substitute for the pork-based variety.
Plus of course, they can both be used as substitutions in recipes calling for ground beef or whatever. For instance, I used the bean/sausage in jambalaya last month and it was excellent.
I'm sure we can concoct similar meat substitutes at home from beans, garlic, onions and spices, but haven't devoted the effort to that yet.
And zucchini makes a great meat substitute in pasta sauces.