You won't believe it's Dairy-Free!

Some of you may know that my husband M and son J are allergic to all dairy products. M is able to tolerate small amounts from time to time, but J goes into anaphylactic shock every time he even tastes a dairy product. Fortunately, there haven’t been any hospital visits for J because of it. When M was a baby he was in and out of the ER on a regular basis.

So, in our home I am the only one who is able to enjoy the deliciousness of dairy. While that is fine for making food for myself, when cooking for M and eventually J, I need to have yummy recipes everyone can enjoy.

This isn’t a completely new concept to me. I have a brother who is lactose-intolerant so I have been subbing margarine for butter and water for milk in recipes since I was a teenager. However, there are some things that I’ve just not been able to find a decent substitute for. Until now…

I have discovered the best recipe for dairy-free sour “cream.” I have actually seen several different versions. I picked the common denominators in all of them and created my own version. When M tried it he was shocked to discover that it tasted exactly like real sour cream. I call it Cashew Cream.

With the holidays just ending, I was inspired to use my Cashew Cream in a recipe for homemade chip dip. M (and J) is not able to have chip dip because of the dairy in everything, and I cannot eat non-homemade dip because they contain MSG (gives me migraines).

This dip recipe is so amazingly good, M didn’t believe me at first when I said it was non-dairy. Truly! I had to list everything I put in it before he was satisfied that it really had no dairy products. M even insisted on giving some to J who is only 8 months old. It was amazing to see J’s reaction. He loves, I mean LOVES trying new foods (the only thing he hasn’t enjoyed was black beans but that’s a story for another time).

So, it is with great pride and pleasure that I share with you my recipes for DAIRY-FREE sour cream and chip dip.

Dairy-free Sour “Cream”

aka Cashew Cream

Makes approx. 1 cup

1 c raw cashews soaked in water (at least 2 hours)

½ c water

¼ c lemon juice

1 tsp nutritional yeast

½ tsp salt

Place all the ingredients in a blender and mix until it has a smooth consistency.

Good for 2 weeks when refrigerated. Tastes just like milk-based sour cream.

Dairy-free Dill Dip (for chips and veggies)

Makes approx. ¾ cup

½ c cashew cream

¼ c mayonnaise

½ tsp garlic salt

½ tsp onion powder

½ tsp dill weed

Pinch of salt

Mix all ingredients together in bowl. Enjoy! Good for 2 weeks when refrigerated (if it isn’t eaten first ;D).

For extra zing add 1/2 tsp paprika. Believe me, it's good.