Dairy-free Archives - Page 2 of 2 - Eat Simply, Eat Well

Creamy Parsnip Soup with Coconut Bacon (dairy- and gluten-free)

October 23, 2015 by aplough

I finally harvested the final crop from my garden: a load of giant, gorgeous, sweet, white parsnips. I’d read that parsnips increase in sweetness if they stay in the ground until after the first frost – which is when the starches turn to sugar, so I opted to let them hang out in the dirt long after I’d cleared out everything else. This was the first year I’d planted parsnips, so I wasn’t sure what to expect – half afraid that their 5 months in the ground would yield only a withered and disappointing harvest, the result of a less-than stellar summer.

Not to worry: these parsnips are beautiful!

Parsnip are an old and much forgotten vegetable, but I urge you: bring them back into your kitchen. When roasted with a little olive oil and salt, they caramelize into this soft-yet-crispy goodness that is completely addicting. When made into a soup, there is a smooth, earthy, and almost spicy element to them that is really hard to describe.

Parsnips are native to Europe and Central Asia, and were introduced to the US around the 17th century. They are related to carrots and parsley, and the flavor is slightly reminiscent of both, so those two flavors pair well with parsnips in any dish. Packed with natural sweetness, parsnips were used as a sweetener in cakes and baked goods before sugar cane became widely available.

They are good for you, too. They are full of vitamins and minerals in a nutritious package that helps to keep you healthy and prevent diseases: 100 grams of raw parsnips has:

fiber – 20% RDA
vitamin C – 28% RDA
manganese – 28% RDA
vitamin K – 28% RDA
folate – 17% RDA
potassium – 11% RDA
phosphorus – 7% RDA
vitamin E – 7% RDA

Sources: webmd.com; organicfacts.net

Right now parsnips are popping up in soups, purees, and roasted alongside the main courses in restaurants all over the Nordics and Baltics. When viewing the menu options for the upcoming Restaurant Week in Tallinn, Estonia, I saw parsnips everywhere. Join in on sampling the delicious flavor these vegetables provide, and take in the best of the season.

For this soup today, I opted to keep it vegan. So instead of adding cream to make it creamy, I used a special trick: oatmeal! It’s a little surprise that adds an extra dose of fiber and heart health to make the soup deeply satisfying. It’s the perfect thing for a cold, rainy, windy Autumn evening like this one.

Creamy Parsnip Soup with Coconut Bacon (gluten-free, dairy-free)

1 tablespoon coconut oil
1 small yellow onion, diced
650g / 1.5 pounds parsnips, washed, peeled and diced
2 garlic cloves, minced
3 cups water
1.5 cups cooked oatmeal, or 3/4 cup dry oatmeal +1.5 cups water, or 1.5 dl dry oatmeal + 3.5 dl water
1/2 teaspoon dried thyme
2 bay leaves
1 tablespoon chopped fresh or frozen parsley
salt & pepper to taste
Coconut Bacon for garnish

Heat coconut oil in a medium-sized pot over medium heat until it melts completely. Add the diced onion and cook 5-8 minutes until the onion is very soft. Add the parsnips and stir to coat; cook for 5 minutes. Add the garlic and cook for an additional minute.

Add the water, cooked oatmeal (or oats plus additional water if using), thyme, bay leaves and parsley. Bring the mixture to a boil, reduce to a simmer, and allow to cook until the parsnips are really tender – about 20 minutes. Remove the bay leaves and puree the soup until smooth using and immersion blender, or in batches using an upright blender or food processor.

Add salt and pepper to taste. Sprinkle each serving with Coconut Bacon for flavor and garnish.

Serves 4.

Make it Yourself: Almond Milk

September 23, 2015 by aplough

If you are trying to avoid dairy, or if you are on a plant-based diet, one of the main ingredients in a lot of the recipes you’ll find is nut milk – in particular, almond milk.

Nut milk has the creamy white color we associate with dairy milk: cow or goat products, and much of the same creaminess. It is mild in flavor and works well in nearly any recipe that calls for dairy milk. For savory baked dishes such as quiches, tarts, pies and casseroles that call for some kind of milk, I prefer to use oat milk. I like the way it thickens a little when heated and the texture resembles that of cow’s milk – particularly in the béchamel I use in my lasagna. However, if you prefer, nut milk works here, too.

But when it comes to sweet baked goods, smoothies, or warm drinks made with milk like cocoa or chai tea, I prefer to use nut milk, and it’s nearly always almond milk.

You can purchase your own almond milk in the non-dairy refrigerated section of your grocery store next to soy and rice milks. The only challenge here is avoiding the thickeners and fillers these milks often contain in order to make them shelf stable (more on this here).

Almond milk is fairly expensive to buy: at my local store it runs around €3.90 per liter and isn’t organic, so making it yourself is a good way to get a great product. Organic almonds is around €25 per kilogram (around €11.50 per pound) in Finland (prices may be better elsewhere), so this means you can make my own organic almond milk for roughly the same price as you can buy the preservative-loaded commercial almond milk, and even less if you don’t buy organic almonds. Many people prefer organic almonds, but the choice is up to you.

All you really need in order to make almond milk are almonds and clean, pure water. I sometimes add a pinch of sea salt to add minerals into the milk, but this is optional. For those of you who are used to the sweetness of cow’s milk or commercial almond milk, you can achieve the same flavor by adding a date or two.

Almond milk is a healthy alternative for those avoiding dairy and soy.

One cup unsweetened almond milk contains:

30-40 calories
1 g fiber
1 g protein
2.5 g fat

good source of manganese (for strong teeth and bones), selenium (supports immune system) and vitamin E (helps fight free radicals), vitamin B2 (helps produce red blood cells)
free of cholesterol and saturated fats

Sources: fitday.com and livescience.com.

While I highlight almonds in this recipe, nearly any nut or seed can be made into milk using the same method. You can always add salt and sweetener to your taste (I prefer dates, but pure maple syrup is also good). The flavor is milk and sweet with a nice, light almond flavor – delicious!

Almond milk

1 cup / 2.5 dl / 130g raw almonds + 2 cups cold, pure water
1 quart / 4 cups / 1 liter pure, cold water
pinch of sea salt, optional
1-2 fresh dates, optional

Soak the almonds in 2 cups of water for at least 4 hours, preferably overnight. Drain and rinse the almonds and pour them into a blender. Add the fresh water, and salt and dates if using. Process on high speed for one minute. Strain through a nut milk bag (preferred for the smoothest texture), an old, clean t-shirt (seriously a very good option), or a fine mesh strainer (what I usually do).

If using a milk bag or t-shirt, you’ll need to squeeze it really well, almost like you are milking it, in order to extract all of the almond milk.

If you are using a fine-mesh strainer, you can press on the solids with the back of a spoon or rubber spatula. If you do this, you will get some almond meat particles in your milk. My suggestion is to rinse the strainer, then strain the milk one more time.

Store in a glass jar in the refrigerator. Almond milk should be used in 2-3 days as it is a very fresh product.

Makes 1 quart/4 cups/1 liter.

Have you made your own almond milk or other non-dairy milks? What is your experience? We’d love to hear more from you in the comments below.

A different kind of fish soup: Sweet Potato, Kale, Fish and Coconut Curry Soup

March 6, 2015 by aplough

Sweet Potato, Kale, Fish and Coconut Curry Soup

With the rain dripping down the side of the window at a steady and soothing rate, a little relaxing classical piano music streaming through the computer speakers, and an evening of relaxation ahead, soup seemed to be the perfect dinner. I’ve been in the mood for something spicy all day, so “making something with curry” was the starting point for tonight’s dinner.

With a sweet potato that had been languishing on the countertop for a couple of weeks, a huge pile of fresh cilantro I’d just picked up from the local Turkish grocery store, and coconut milk I’d made this morning on a “just in case” whim waiting in the fridge alongside a hunk of Greenland halibut that we’d put there to thaw last night, the creative wheels started turning.

The crunchy pieces of fish from the frying pan add a nice texture to the soup, too.

First of all, although that had been the plan, I really didn’t want a dinner centered around that hunk of fish. Don’t get me wrong: I love fish, especially halibut. But a hunk of fish requires side dishes and sauces and things that I wasn’t in the mood to make. Plus, this hunk of fish was fairly small, so as a resource it needed to be stretched a bit. I decided to treat the fish as a garnish to the main course, and with that we were off and running.

This soup isn’t overly spicy, but you can easily adjust the spice level by adjusting the amount of red curry paste you use. I also felt that the curry paste together with the fish sauce provided enough salt; feel free to adjust the level of salt to your liking.

Not only does this soup taste delicious with a all favor flavors including umami at play, it’s good for you. The sweet potato packs a strong punch of vitamin A, the kale is one of the super greens with more phytonutrients than nearly any other plant out there, and the cilantro packed into this soup has been shown to have anti-diabetic effects, is used as an anti-inflammatory in India, has been studied in the US for its ability to lower cholesterol. And if you’ve been having trouble getting your omega 3, the fish will add a healthy dose of that, too.

Full of satisfying flavor, it tastes as good as it looks.

Sweet Potato, Kale, Fish and Coconut Curry Soup

1 tablespoon olive oil
1 onion, diced
1 large garlic clove, minced
1 liter chicken broth
1 cup water
1 cup coconut milk
2-4 teaspoons Thai red curry paste, depending on how spicy you like it
1 1/2 teaspoons Fish sauce
1 small bunch cilantro, roots trimmed; stems and leaves chopped
1 sweet potato, peeled and cut into small cubes
3 cups Kale, washed, stems removed and chopped small
300 g halibut (or other white fish)
lemon juice, salt and pepper, for seasoning halibut
oil, for pan

Season the halibut with a sprinkle of salt, and a few grinds of pepper. Set aside while you prepare the soup.

Pour the tablespoon of olive oil into a medium-sized pot over medium heat. Add the onion and cook until the onion is soft and translucent, about 5 minutes. Add the garlic and cook for one minute more. Add the chicken broth, water, coconut milk, curry paste, fish sauce and cilantro stems. Allow the broth to simmer gently for 5 minutes. Add the sweet potato and cook for 5 minutes. Add the kale and cook for one minute. Add the cilantro leaves, reserving a few leaves for garnish. Cover the pot and turn off the heat.

Heat a heavy bottom frying pan or cast iron grill pan over medium-high heat. Squeeze lemon juice over the halibut, brush the top side with oil, and place the fish, oil side down, in the pan. Brush the side of the fish that is now facing up with oil. Cover the pan and allow the fish to cook and steam until it is cooked about halfway through: 2-3 minutes. Now, using a flat spatula, gently lift the fish up from the pan and flip it over.

Cover the pan again and allow the fish to cook for 2-3 minutes until cooked through and slightly crisp. Transfer the fish from the pan to a cutting board and cut it into all cubes. If you can, use the spatula to scrape some of the crispy bits from the bottom of the pan as well. Be careful to remove any bones during this process.

Ladle the soup into four bowls. Divide the fish and the crispy pieces and arrange it over the top of the four bowls. Garnish each bowl with cilantro leaves and serve.

Serves 4.