Ranch Mashed Potatoes - Vegan and Soy Free

  I don't know if anyone else does this, but my husband used to eat mashed potatoes with ranch dressing stirred in. Legend has it that he and his sister would never eat potatoes (or any vegetable, for that matter) unless properly coated in ranch and so this is how he learned to eat them. His palette has refined somewhat now, he will eat most any vegetable except broccoli, but he does still like his ranch potatoes.
  Rather than make ranch dressing to stir into the potatoes tonight I thought I'd try just adding most of the ingredients that go into ranch. It was much easier and tasted wonderful, so I am passing the recipe on down to you!

 You can use any instant mashed potato flakes that suit your needs, just prepare them as per package direction using unsweetened plain non dairy milk in place of milk and soy free Earth Balance in place of butter, OR you can boil and mash your own potatoes using the same ingredients.

Ranch Mashed Potatoes

By the way, that other thing is a turkey patty with gravy on it.
Not the prettiest looking thing.

4 servings of hot prepared mashed potatoes
1 1/2 tsp lemon juice
1 tsp salt
1/2 tsp onion powder
1/2 tsp garlic powder
1/4 tsp dried dill weed
1/8 tsp dried parsley
1/8 tsp dried basil
a few cracks of fresh ground black pepper
2 Tbl Soy Free Earth Balance

Stir all ingredients together. That's it!
Ideally these would be slightly thinner than normal mashed potatoes (imagine that you'd poured real ranch into regular potatoes), but if you want them to still be stiffer, leave out the extra Earth Balance.

Vegan and Soy Free Ranch Revised

  Before we found out about Jack's rice allergy, the very best way we'd found to make dairy free ranch dressing was to use soy free Vegenaise as a base. (Recipe here). Since we lost rice, we've found a few different yummy ways to make salad dressings and dips that are creamy and tasty, but they were never quite right.

  Well this recipe is still not 100% Hidden Valley, but it is so close I bet most non-vegan or allergy restricted partakers would not think it was dairy free. ((Since this is made with nuts, one of the top 8 allergens, it's probably wise to inform your guests about it's ingredients before they eat it though).

  I used my Blendtec blender for this. If you do not have as powerful a blender, you can still make this recipe but you may have to blend it for much longer, or ideally soak your cashews in water the night before.

Vegan and Soy Free Cashew Ranch

1 cup raw cashews
1/2 cup water
1 tsp olive oil
1/4 cup plain unsweetened almond milk
1/4 cup lemon juice
1/2+ tsp sea salt
1/8 tsp black pepper
1/2 tsp onion powder
1/2 tsp garlic powder
1/2 tsp dried dill weed
1/2 tsp dried parsley
1/2 tsp dried basil

In a blender, add cashews and water and blend until smooth (Using the Blendtec I went to speed 2 and let it run it's whole cycle twice). This could be 5 or more minutes using a less powerful blender and unsoaked cashews.
In a separate small bowl, add almond milk and lemon juice and allow to sit for a few minutes until 'curdled'.
Once the cashews are smooth, add the almond milk/ lemon juice mixture, olive oil, and all seasonings to blender and blend until completely combined. Taste and adjust seasonings as needed. We ended up using about 1 tsp salt altogether.

You can also add other seasonings to this such as chipotle powder or pepper corns. The cashew cream, olive oil, and almond milk/lemon juice mixture makes an excellent base for lots of dips and dressings, more than once we have a had a great tasting salad dressing that I can never recreate because I just threw things into the blender, so feel free to experiment!
It even makes a pretty good mayonnaise substitute (add salt). It should not be watery, if it is add more cashews to the mix and blend again. It will thicken even more in the fridge.
Store in an air tight container in the fridge for up to a week.

Dairy and Soy Free Nacho Cheese and Sour Cream

  So these two things are obviously great for making nachos, like the ones we had tonight with taco-seasoned ground turkey, black beans, salsa, and corn tortilla chips. But they also have other applications; the cheese sauce goes great over broccoli and other vegetables and the sour cream makes a fabulous base for dressings, especially ranch (use in place of Vegenaise Mayo). Also if you follow the same sour cream recipe but use less water, it makes a great substitute for ricotta in lasagnas!

I know, I know. It needs olives.

Dairy Free Nacho Cheese 

2 Tbl Earth Balance Soy Free Buttery Spread
1 cup Daiya pepperjack shreds
1/4 cup unsweetened plain almond or other non-dairy milk (more if necessary)
pinch each of ground mustard, turmeric, and onion powder
1/2 tsp lemon juice
salt to taste
dash of cayenne (optional)

In a medium saucepan, heat Earth Balance until completely melted. Add Daiya cheese shreds and 1/4 cup almond milk. Stir occasionally until cheese is melted and smooth. Stir in the rest of the ingredients. If cheese sauce is too thick, add milk 1 Tbl at a time.

Dairy Free Sour Cream

1/2 cup raw sunflower seeds
1/2 cup raw cashews (can use all sunflower seeds if avoiding nuts, or all cashews for a more traditional flavor)
about 1 cup of water *see directions
2 tsp lemon juice
1/2 tsp sea salt

*Place sunflower seeds and cashews into a measuring cup. Add water to just cover the seeds/nuts by about 1/4 of an inch.
Place all ingredients in a blender and blend until smooth and thick. (If using a Blendtec, use the sauces/dips button).

Copy-cat Newman's Own Southwest Salad Dressing, veganized

   Chris and I had a hard time getting used to daylight savings time the other day. We were out and about with the kids, decided to run to WalMart, and then realized when we got in the car to leave it was actually Ben's bed time and we hadn't even fed anyone yet. So we ran through McDonald's and got the boys some french fries, Chris got his all time favorite splurge food: Chicken nuggets, and I got a Crispy Chicken Southwest Salad. I never knew a salad from McDonald's could be so GOOD! I wanted to find a way to replicate it at home in a more Jack friendly way though. Turns out that wasn't as hard as I thought! I cut a corn tortilla into strips and fried them till crunchy, then topped a bed of spinach with black beans, corn, tortilla strips, Daiya cheddar shreds, and this really tasty copy-cat Southwest Dressing!

Vegan Creamy Southwest Dressing

1 cup Soy Free Vegenaise
2 tsp lime juice
2 tsp white wine vinegar
2 tsp chili powder
1/4 tsp garlic powder
1/4 tsp onion powder
1/4 tsp ground cumin
dash of cayenne (optional)

Mix all ingredients well. Keep refrigerated in air tight container for up to 3 days.

Turkey Taco Salad

  I'm ashamed to say I totally forgot it was Monday, so this recipe contains meat. :/ Lol but it was so good it really doesn't matter!
  The taco seasoning is something I have been meaning to post on here for a long time since most prepared taco seasonings contain milk and this one does not taste like it's missing anything. Let me list it here real quick:
dairy free taco seasoning
1 Tbl chili powder
1/4 tsp garlic powder*
1/4 tsp onion powder*
1/4 tsp red pepper flakes
1/4 tsp oregeno
1/2 tsp paprika
1 tsp salt
1 tsp black pepper
1 1/2 tsp ground cumin
Mix all ingredients well. You can keep this premade in a jar or ziploc baggy, however I make mine as I need it.
*In this recipe, I used actual onions and minced garlic in the skillet so I omitted these two.

Turkey Taco Salad

1 lb ground turkey
taco seasoning mix (it comes to about 2 Tbls)
1 can black beans, drained
1/2 cup vegetable broth
1/2 red onion, chopped
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 Tbl coconut oil
3 cups shredded romaine lettuce
1/2 cup vegan ranch dressing
1/2 cup Daiya cheddar shreds
1 avocado, chopped
1 medium tomato, chopped
1 cup World Table brand Blue Corn and Sesame Tortilla chips
All your other favorite taco salad toppings; olives, jalepenos, salsa, etc)

In a medium skillet, heat coconut oil over medium until it is fully liquified. Add onions and garlic and sautee until slightly soft. Add turkey and break up with a spoon. Stir occasionally until browned. Add taco seasoning and vegetable broth and stir well. Reduce heat and let simmer until liquid has mostly evaporated. Stir in black beans, heat through.
Serve meat mixture on a bed of lettuce with avocado, tomato, ranch, and cheese. Add chips for garnish, or if you are like me, crumble them on top. Yum!