A Very Merry Spread: A Dairy-Free Gluten-Free Christmas

Although my family has been into crazy health foods for awhile and it's not uncommon for us to tweak recipes to be healthier or to fit dietary restrictions, I recently cut all dairy and gluten from my already meat-free diet.  For the holidays, that meant getting a bit creative.  Luckily, my family is always up for a cooking challenge, and it really wasn't that bad.  Below are a few of the foods we served at this year's holiday gathering based on what family members and friends asked for the recipes of!

Vegan Apple Turnip Soup

At school I was a judge for a sustainability cook-off and I tried a cup of this apple-turnip soup and was so wowed by it.  I am not a soup person and "turnip" is not the most appealing food in my mind.  I LOVED this soup and I've been speaking highly of it ever since that first sip.  It wasn't vegan when I tried it, but I adapted it to fit my dietary needs and everyone at my family's holiday's drop in thought it was delicious!

Ingredients

• 1 onion, chunked
• 1 large potato, peeled and chunked
• 1 large apple (we used Granny Smith), cored, peeled, and cut up in chunks
• 1 large turnip, peeled and cut in chunks
• 1 cup carrots, chunked
• 1 cup butternut squash, chunked
• 1/4 cup Earth Balance vegan buttery sticks
• 3 cups  vegetable stock (actually use as much as needed to cover the vegetables)
• 1 can cannellini beans, drained and rinsed
• 1/4 cup maple syrup
• salt to taste (it needs probably about a teaspoon, if not a bit more)
• 1/2 tsp mild chili powder
  
  

Instructions

1. Chunk up the onion, potato, apple, turnip, carrots, and squash. 
2. Melt the buttery sticks in your pressure cooker and then add the chunked up veggies.  Stir to coat the veggies. 
3. Add the vegetable stock, enough to just cover the veggies.  Bring the veggies and stock to pressure and, let it cook for 5-6 minutes.
4. Let pressure come down naturally. If veggies are still firm, cook until they soften either by bringing back to pressure for a minute or two, or cooking over medium heat.
5. Basically we're just cooking the veggies, if you want to do it another way, go for it.  Cooking covered in a regular stock pot is a suitable substitution for the pressure cooker except it will take longer.
6. Use an immersion blender to blend up the veggies.  Add the cannellini beans and maple syrup and blend until smooth.  ~Add salt to taste, blending as you go.

It's that easy!  I love that the beans give the soup some protein and the other flavors really complement each other, without being too overpowering at all.  Enjoy!

Serves 6-8 (Makes approximately 2 quarts)

Dairy-Free Pistachio Cranberry Cashew "Cheese" Log

Ingredients

• 1 cup cashews, soaked at least 6 hours
• 1/4 cup filtered water
• 1 Tablespoon lemon juice
• 1 1/2 teaspoons lemon zest
• 1 probiotic capsules (use the probiotic powder, discard the capsules)
• 2 Tablespoons nutritional (not bread or brewers) yeast - we use Bragg's brand
• 1 small clove garlic, finely minced
• 1 teaspoons dried thyme
• 1/8 teaspoon himalayan or sea salt
• couple grinds cracked pepper
• 3/4 cup dried cranberries, divided
• 3/4 cup chopped pistachio nuts, divided

Instructions

1. Combine soaked cashews, water, lemon juice, lemon zest, and probiotic capsule in high-speed blender or food processor. Blend until smooth.
2. Line a strainer with cheese cloth, spoon cashew mixture into the cheesecloth, cover and let sit out overnight.
3. Put cashew mixture into bowl. Stir in nutritional yeast, thyme, , lemon zest, garlic, salt and pepper, 1/4 cup of the dried cranberries and 1/4 cup of the chopped pistachios.
4. Cover and place in refrigerator for one day to set up.
5. Mix remaining 1/2 cup pistachios and 1/2 cup dried cranberries together.
6. Shape “cheese” into a log and roll in above mixture.
7. Wrap the "roll" tightly in plastic wrap or waxed paper and chill until serving.

We served the "cheese" with Trader Joe's Original Savory Thin Crackers and it is so delicious.  Such a great appetizer or snack!

Dairy-Free Ranch Dressing

I'm a ranch dressing girl.  This is a super easy and tasty way for me to be able still have my ranch within my dietary restraints.  Whip this up in under ten minutes and you'll have a great, healthy ranch substitute.

Ingredients

• 1 cup mayonnaise (We use Helmann's Olive Oil version)
• 1/4 cup Dairy-Free "Buttermilk" (see recipe below)
• 1/2 tsp. dried Parsley (or 1 tsp. fresh)
• 1/2 tsp dried Chives (or 1 tsp. fresh)
• 1/2 tsp. dried Dill (or 1 tsp. fresh)
• 1/4 tsp. Garlic Powder
• 1/4 tsp. Onion Powder
• 1/8 tsp. Sea Salt
• 1/8 tsp. Black Pepper

Directions

1. Add 1.5 tsp. white vinegar to a liquid measuring cup.
2. Add enough Dairy-Free Milk to bring the total amount of liquid to 1/4 cup (We use So Delicious Unsweetened Coconut Milk which is a neutral flavored non-dairy milk substitute)
3. Stir and allow to sit for 5 minutes.
4. Combine all ingredients except for the dairy-free buttermilk in a medium bowl.
5. Slowly whisk in the "buttermilk."
6. Store in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to a week.