Miss that creamy texture in salad dressing, soups and sauces?

So many recipes call for oil or cream but if you are on a strict WFPB diet, you can’t use those anymore.

So to get that creamy texture we all crave so what do we substitute?

Here are some suggestions on what to add to your favorite recipes instead of oil or cream.

 

 

  1. Try Tahini, applesauce, silken tofu or plant based unsweetened yogurt in your salad dressings to give it that creamy clinginess.
  2. Try pureed vegetables in salad dressing. Use vegetables like carrots, zucchini or beets. If you steam them first, they may not separate in your dressing.
  3. Got too many mushrooms? Sauté them, then put them in a blender and save the puree to use in a tasty mushroom gravy that you can pour on your potatoes or lentil burger.
  4. Blend your salad dressings with a few olives. I use green ones in my Green Goddess dressing!
  5. To thicken soups, use pureed vegetables in the base. Great contenders are potatoes or carrots.
  6. For cream based soups you used to love, try pureed steamed cauliflower, plant based yogurt or silken tofu.
  7. It is easy to make your own broth from your favorite mix of vegetables! Next time try blending the discarded vegetables and use that for gravy or sauce bases.
  8. Try blending aromatic vegetables like roasted red bell pepper, green chili’s, braised onions, braised garlic or leeks.
  9. Try blending fruits for your sauces and dressings. Pears make a wonderful base for dressings that require a creamy consistency and a hint of sweetness. A coleslaw dressing comes to mind!
  10. Don’t be afraid to use organic condiments! There are countless varieties of mustard that can be mixed into your dressings and sauces to lend them a creamy texture.
  11. One of my favorite salad dressings is some left over spaghetti sauce with a little vinegar and lemon juice added! Don’t be afraid to experiment!
  12.  Use pureed tomatoes or left over Ketchup, condiment, horseradishtomato paste to make your own ketchup or simply add some to a salad dressing. Adding tomato paste and lemon juice to my Creamy French Salad dressing makes it a tomato based Catalina dressing.
  • Add a little horseradish to that ketchup you made for a real kick!

 

All of these puree’s can be frozen. Freeze them in ice cube trays so you have them on hand.