Dairy Free Broccoli Cheddar Soup

My dairy free broccoli cheddar soup is sweet, rich, and creamy, just like the dairy version. I've been craving this soup since one of my friends ordered a big bowl of it at Panera. It looked so delicious I decided to make some. Plus, it's flu season; soup is soothing and broccoli is high in vitamin C. This is my flu shot.

The combination of sweet onion and sweetened almond milk makes a perfect dairy free soup base. I recommend following the first few steps to make any recipe that may call for a cream based canned soup. It can always be pureed in a food processor for a smoother texture. Also, this particular soup can be used as a base for, say, a chicken and rice casserole.

For the cheese part, I recommend using Trader Joe's Shredded Soy Cheese Blend for flavor if you are just lactose intolerant, but it's not completely vegan. For vegan soup I recommend using vegetable broth and Daiya Cheddar Style Shreds, although the flavor is a bit different. To achieve a better-than-dairy-broccoli-cheddar flavor, I added only 1/2 cup Daiya Style Shreds and then 1/2 cup parmesan in this batch. It's amazing to me.

Sometimes I like to use what I call a fake cheese cocktail: a mixture of different soy or veggie based cheeses to achieve a more natural flavor. The cheddar style flavors can be very strong, and they taste more realistic if toned down with parmesan flavor or mozzarella. Experiment with different brands, but I usually agree that less is more when it comes to adding fake cheese. Try half a cup and judge the flavor, then add more if you like it.


Ingredients:

1 3/4 cups low sodium chicken broth or vegetable broth

1 sweet onion, finely chopped
1/3 cup all purpose flour
4 tablespoons Smart Balance Light Buttery Spread
1/2 teaspoon sea salt
1/2 teaspoon black pepper
2 cups sweetened almond milk
1 cup shredded cheddar cheese alternative
3 cups fresh broccoli, chopped

Directions:

1. In a large saucepan, melt Smart Balance over medium low heat. Add onions, salt, and pepper and cook for five minutes or until onions are tender.

                 

2. Add flour and cook for two minutes.

                 

3. Slowly whisk in chicken broth until well combined and cook for five minutes. Whisk in almond milk, and then stir in broccoli. Cook uncovered at a simmer over low heat for 15-20 minutes or until broccoli is tender, stirring occasionally. Do not bring to a boil.

                

                

                

4. Once broccoli is tender, whisk in the cheddar cheese alternative until melted. Depending on the brand used it can be tricky to melt completely, so I say whisk it. Whisking will also break down some of the larger broccoli pieces, creating a smoother soup. Remove saucepan from heat and serve the broccoli cheddar soup in a colorful bowl with your favorite crackers.

                
                

       

Dairy Free Chicken Broccoli Alfredo

I love cheesy pasta dishes. I was disappointed when I went back to Pittsburgh in August and had lunch at one of my favorite restaurants, Joe Mama's, realizing that all of my usual orders were smothered in cheesy sauces: Hug Yo Belly Gemelli, Herbed Chicken and Penne, Nonna's Gnocchi... Another Pittsburgh restaurant, Eat 'n' Park, was a common place for me and my husband to go for a quick lunch or dinner. Our usual was their Chicken Broccoli Alfredo. In college we loved to go to The Underground at Carnegie Mellon, where we would get a plate of hot pasta topped with creamy Alfredo sauce and marinara. The point is, I used to order Alfredo all the time.

I gave it up for awhile, refining my tastes by ordering complex pasta dishes at Italian places and trying new things with more nutrion. But lately I've been craving cheesy things. The only solution to that is to experiment with dairy alternative products and to create masterpieces. My dairy free chicken broccoli Alfredo is definitely a masterpiece. It tastes better than the real thing and I'm serious. I could eat this everyday!

I used the best tasting dairy free alternatives: Smart Balance Light Buttery Spread, Blue Diamond Almond Breeze Almond Milk, and Tofutti Better Than Sour Cream. Aged parmesan cheese has very little lactose, 0mg per serving, so it's not going to bother lactose intolerant people in small amounts. In large amounts it will, so if you eat a lot be careful or take a Lactaid pill. It can't be eaten by people with a milk allergy. For a completely dairy free version, I recommend using Vegan Grated Parmesan Cheese Alternative by Galaxy Nutritional Foods. There's also a parmesan cheese alternative on the market called Parma!. It's made with walnuts, salt, and nutritional yeast. I haven't tried it yet but I'll blog about it when I do.


Ingredients:
3 tablespoons Smart Balance Light Buttery Spread
1 cup almond milk
1/2 cup Tofutti Better Than Sour Cream
1 teaspoon garlic powder

1 tablespoon cornstarch
1 tablespoon water

1/3 cup parmesan cheese or parmesan cheese alternative
1 tablespoon chopped fresh parsley, plus more for garnish


2 chicken breasts, sliced and grilled
1/2 lb of linguine
1 1/2 cups fresh broccoli

Directions:

1. Make sure your chicken breast is cooked or almost finished before starting the sauce, pasta, and broccoli. I cut mine into four thin strips and grilled them with my George Foreman Grill the same time I started the pasta. I also recommend broiling for a grilled chicken taste. Start pasta by following the directions for cooking on the back of the box. Prep broccoli for quick light microwave steaming by putting it in a dish with a tablespoon of water and covering it.

2. Once your pasta and chicken are cooking, start the sauce. Melt Smart Balance in a large saucepan over medium heat. After it is melted add almond milk, sour cream, and garlic powder. Whisk to combine.
                          
2. Dissolve the cornstarch in water in a small dish and gradually add to milk mixture, whisking constantly to avoid lumps. Bring sauce to a simmer. Cook for five minutes or until mixture has started to thicken. Add parmesan cheese and whisk to combine.
                         
3. While the sauce is thickening, steam fresh broccoli for two minutes in the microwave. Go back to the sauce, remove from heat, and stir in 1 tablespoon of fresh parsley.

4. At this point, you can cut your chicken into small strips and combine all ingredients in the saucepan to coat with the Alfredo sauce, or you can layer them: pasta, chicken, broccoli, and sauce. Garnish with a sprig of parsley and mangia!

Dairy Free Turkey Broccoli Quiche

We had a ton of leftovers from our 23 lb. turkey this Thanksgiving, so I was coming up with ways to eat it for breakfast, lunch, and dinner. A quiche is a great breakfast opportunity to use up leftover turkey, but lactose intolerant and quiche usually don't go together that well. I replaced the heavy cream and cheese with shredded soy mozzarella, a sprinkle of Parmesan, and, of all things, Silk Nog.

Now, before you go wondering how any of these ingredients can possibly go together, you should know that the result was absolutely divine. My husband and I devoured this entire 9inch quiche in less than two days. You don't have to use the Nog, which is an eggnog alternative, you can use Lactaid Milk or Lactaid Half and Half (if you can find it), or Almond Milk or Soymilk instead. But if you do see the Silk Nog, give it a try. It has a beautiful blend of spices in it already that tastes great with an egg dish! A perfect Thanksgiving leftovers treat for the person in your family that can't digest dairy.

Ingredients:

1 refrigerated pie crust
1 1/2 cups fresh broccoli
1 tsp onion powder
Dash of black pepper
1 tablespoon Earth Balance or Smart Balance Light Buttery Spread
1 cup cooked turkey, chopped
3/4 cup shredded soy mozzarella cheese (I use Trader Joe's)
1 tablespoon of Parmesan Cheese Alternative
4 eggs
1 cup Silk Nog (I also recommend Very Vanilla Soymilk)
1 teaspoon curry powder
1/4 teaspoon black pepper
1/4 teaspoon of sea salt


Directions:


1. Let the pie crust sit out to adjust to room temperature for at least 15 minutes. Mold it into a 9inch pie dish.


2. Melt 1 tablespoon of buttery spread in a large pan and add the broccoli, onion powder, and a dash of black pepper, cooking over medium heat until just tender and it becomes a bright green color.



3. Beat the eggs in a medium bowl, then add 1 cup of Silk Nog, salt, pepper, and curry powder and whisk together until blended.

4. Add the ingredients to the pie in this order: cooked broccoli, chopped turkey, shredded soy mozzarella cheese, Parmesan cheese. Then, pour the egg mixture evenly over these ingredients. Spread the mixture so that all the ingredients are evenly covered.



5. Bake at 375 degrees Fahrenheit for 40 minutes, until the center of the quiche is completely cooked through. Goes well with a steaming cup of pumpkin spice coffee. Happy Black Friday!