The 30-Minute Vegan - Mark Reinfeld [7]
Condiments and Special Treats
Condiments are a simple way to enhance the flavor of dishes. We provide recipes for many of our favorites in chapter 13. Check out your local health food stores or comprehensive Web sites, such as www.sunfood.com or www.goldmine.com, for a wealth of vegan condiments.
Here are some more staples to include:
Nut and seed butters: Try almond, cashew, and macadamia. They are available in many health food stores. We also love tahini, a creamy butter made from ground sesame seeds, which is a staple in Middle Eastern cuisine. A few companies dedicated to raw foods will grind their nuts and seeds slowly over the course of a few days to keep the temperature from becoming too high. Coconut butter is another favorite for smoothies and desserts.
Red Star’s Nutritional Yeast: One of our favorite condiments, it’s a vegan source of protein and vitamin B12 that adds a cheeselike and nutty flavor to dishes. Store nutritional yeast in a cool, dark place in an airtight jar, and use it within a few months.
Mirin: A sweet rice wine that imparts a depth and sweet flavor to dishes. It is often used as that special “secret ingredient,” combining well with the saltiness of soy sauce. When you don’t have mirin, you can substitute a fifty-fifty combination of apple juice and rice wine vinegar, sherry, or even brown rice vinegar to achieve a similar effect.
Miso paste: A staple in Japanese cuisine that’s made from cultured soybeans, rice, or barley. The culturing process creates enzymes and many beneficial nutrients such as B-vitamins and essential amino acids. Be sure to purchase the unpasteurized variety. Miso varies in color from light varieties, such as mellow, shiro, or garbanzo bean miso to the darker ones, such as brown rice, hatcho, red, or barley miso. The lighter varieties are usually fermented for a shorter period and are more delicately flavored and sometimes sweet. The darker varieties are heavier and saltier.
Soy sauces: Nama Shoyu is an unpasteurized soy sauce (nama means “raw” in Japanese) made from cultured soybeans and wheat. We list Nama Shoyu as the soy sauce in our raw recipes. For the cooked recipes, we like to use tamari, a wheat-free soy sauce. Feel free to replace the soy sauce listed in the recipes with Shoyu, tamari, or a soy sauce of your choosing.
Nondairy milks: Soy, rice, almond, and hemp milk are healthful alternatives to cow’s milk. There are many varieties on the market, so try a few to find your favorite. See chapter 3 for homemade seed and nut milks.
Baking and dessert ingredients: To explore the world of desserts, stock up on baking soda, baking powder, grain-sweetened dairy-free chocolate and carob chips, dairy-free cocoa powder, vanilla extract (preferably alcohol-free), and flavorings such as mint, raspberry, orange, almond, coffee, banana, hazelnut, and more. Also consider a few specialty items such as tapioca flour (or Egg Replacer by Ener-G Foods), shredded coconut, rosewater and other food grade hydrosols.
Superfood condiments: Culinary superfood supplements that we add to smoothies and live desserts include raw cacao powder and nibs, spirulina, maca powder, and raw carob powder. Fresh vanilla beans add gourmet flair to smoothies and desserts. Try the Tahitian and Mexican varieties.
Japanese condiments: Pickled ginger, wasabi powder, and umeboshi plum paste are available at most health food stores and Asian foods markets. Use pickled ginger and its brine to add an extra exotic flare to dishes. Wasabi, the green spicy mustard paste you get with sushi, can be used to add a deep spicy twist. Umeboshi plum paste is very tangy and salty; it takes a little getting used to. It is revered in macrobiotic food preparation for its health promoting properties.
Transition condiments: These we don’t recommend consuming on a regular basis. Use in moderation to satisfy a craving for their less healthy dairy alternatives. Follow Your Heart is a company that makes Vegenaise, an outstanding vegan mayo. They also have a superior vegan mozzarella and cream