Copycat Cafe Rio Creamy Tomatillo dressing Dairy Free

Ingredients

2 cups dairy free ranch dressing (recipe here)

2 medium tomatillos, husks removed

1/2 cup fresh cilantro

2 cloves garlic

2 tsp lime juice

1 jalapeno, seeded

Directions

Place all ingredients in a blender and process until smooth. Store in an airtight container for up to 2 weeks.

Dairy Free Ranch Dressing

Ingredients

1 cup mayo (see recipe below)

1/2 tsp garlic powder

1 T dried minced onion

1/2 tsp onion powder

1/4 tsp white pepper

1.5 T dried parsley

1/2 tsp dill

1/2-3/4 cup non-dairy milk (I used unsweetened almond)

Mayo recipe

1 egg, room temperature

2 T lemon juice

1/2 tsp salt

1/2 tsp dry mustard

1 cup light olive oil

Directions

1. If using prepared mayo, skip to step 2. In Blendtec Twister Jar, place the egg and lemon juice and let come to room temperature. Add the salt and mustard. Blend ingredients. Then set Blendtec to Speed 2 and slowly add oil in a thin stream. The slower the better. It took me about 5 cycles on Speed 2 (~50 seconds each cycle). You'll hear it change sound as it thickens and emulsifies.

2. Combine 1 cup mayo with 1/2-3/4 cup milk, garlic powder, dried minced onion, onion  powder, white pepper, dried parsley, and dill. Blend until combined. Store in fridge for 1-2 weeks.

Buffalo drumsticks and sauce

Ingredients

12 drumsticks

2/3 cup hot pepper sauce (such as Frank's RedHot)

1/2 cup butter

1.5 T white vinegar

1/4 tsp Worcestershire sauce

1/4 tsp cayenne pepper (I omit this)

1/8 tsp garlic powder

Blue cheese dressing for dipping

Carrot sticks as a side

Directions

1. Place a 6-quart saucepan, with a steamer basket and 1 inch of water in the bottom, over high heat, cover, and bring to a boil. Place the drumsticks in the steamer basket, cover, reduce heat to medium and steam for 10 minutes. 

2. Remove the drumsticks from the basket and carefully pat dry. Lay out the drumsticks on a cooling rack set in a cookie sheet lined with first tin foil then paper towels and place in the refrigerator to dry, about 1 hour.

3. Preheat oven to 450 F. Remove the paper towels on the pan, leaving the tin foil. Remove most of the skin. Roast on the middle rack of the oven, about 20 minutes. Turn the drumsticks over and cook another 20 minutes, or until the meat is cooked through. 

4. While the chicken is roasting, in a small saucepan, combine the hot sauce, butter, vinegar, Worcestershire sauce, and garlic powder. Bring to a simmer over medium heat while stirring with a whisk. As soon as the liquid begins to bubble on the sides of the pot, remove from heat, stir with the whisk, and set aside for use.

5. When drumsticks are cooked, place in a bowl and pour Buffalo sauce over them and toss to coat. Serve warm with blue cheese sauce for dipping and carrot sticks.

Non-dairy yogurt

From Hip Pressure Cooking

Ingredients

1 qt unsweetened, plain non-dairy milk
3 T cornstarch
4 tsp. yogurt or starter

Directions

Step 1: Sanitation

If you’re making the yogurt directly in Instant Pot’s stainless steel container, sanitize the cooker by running Instant Pot on the pressure steam program for one minute with one cup of water. Set the valve on the lid to “Sealing” push the [steam] button and then the [-] button until you get down to one minute. When the program is finished, release the pressure and then pour out the water. 

Step 2: Scalding and thickening the milk

Pour 1/4 cup of the non-dairy milk into a small bowl. Add in 3 T of cornstarch and mix thoroughly. Pour the rest of the carton of milk plus the milk/cornstarch mix into the stainless steel container. Scald the milk by pushing [yogurt] button and [adjust] until the screen says “Boil”. Let Instant Pot bring the milk to a boil until the screen says “Yogt”. For thicker yogurt, repeat this step one more time, stiring occasionally.

Wait until the milk cools down to at least 115F/46C before proceeding to the next step. That can take anywhere from 20 minutes to an hour (make sure to take the temperature with a clean thermometer).


Step 3: Inoculation 

Once the scalded milk has cooled to below 115F, add the yogurt inoculate according to package instructions or, use a high-quality plain yogurt with live active cultures. Once you get going, you can use the yogurt from a previous batch to make the next- as long as it’s under two weeks old. Measurements do not need to be exact, but you’ll want to aim for about one teaspoon per cup (250ml) of milk. Mix the inoculate or yogurt into the milk until it dissolves completely

Step 4: Incubation 

Close the lid with the pressure valve in any position. Run the yogurt program by pressing [Yogurt]. The default time is 8 hours, but you can adjust the time by pressing the [+] or [-] buttons to get different effects. Longer time will produce a more tart yogurt. Most yogurt strains will begin to solidify after bout 6 hours – for less tart results check to see if the milk has already solidified after this time. When the program is finished the letters “Yogt” will appear in the display.

Step 5: For thicker Greek style yogurt

Strain the Yogurt – after the yogurt making process is complete. Pour the yogurt into a coffee filter-lined fine strainer that is positioned over a bowl. Place the whole set-up in the refrigerator for 4-6 hours depending on the desired thickness.


Step 6: Storage

Pour the contents of the inner pot into a clean container, and refrigerate for up to two weeks.

Sushi Rice and Shaggy Dog roll

Shaggy Dog Roll

Photo credit Natasha's Kitchen

Ingredients

Sushi Rice

4 T Rice Vinegar

2 T sugar

2 tsp salt

2 cups Japanese or short grain rice

3 cups water

California Rolls or Shaggy Dog Rolls

6 half-sheets of Nori

1/2 lb imitation crab meat 

1 Avocado

1/2 medium cucumber, peeled and sliced into long matchsticks

Toasted Sesame Seeds (optional)

Panko breadcrumbs, tempura style (optional)

1 carrot, peeled and sliced into long matchsticks

Pink Mayo

1/2 cup mayonnaise

2-3 T Sriracha sauce

1-1/2 T sweetened condensed milk

Directions

Sushi Rice

1. Cook the rice in rice cooker.

2. As rice is cooking, make sushi rice by combining rice vinegar, salt, and sugar in a small sauce pan and letting them dissolve together over low heat on the stove, then let the mixture cool.

3. When the rice is done cooking, transfer the hot rice into a large bowl and break it up to get rid of all the hot clumps.

4. Let the rice cool down until it is just warm, then stir in your cooled sushi vinegar. 

Assembling Rolls

1. On a sheet of parchment paper, spread a generous handful of sushi rice onto a 1/2 sheet of nori. Use wet fingers or a spoon to spread the rice evenly over the entire surface of the nori, taking care to cover all the way to the edges of the nori.

2. Flip the rice covered piece of nori over so the rice is facing down. This way your rice will be on the outside. (The rice will stick surprisingly well to nori and it's relatively easy to flip the nori over.) Place your fillings across the center of your rice in the middle of the sheet.

3. Start rolling away from you using the parchment paper, using your fingers to hold the ingredients in place. Roll tightly enough and apply pressure to make a tight roll.

4. Once all the rolls are rolled, run your sharp knife through damp paper towel before slicing so the rice won't stick as much. Slice two rolls at a time, quickly with a sharp knife, into 1 inch wide rolls. 

5. Sprinkle with panko crumbs or toasted sesame seeds. To make a Shaggy Dog roll, top with tiny flakes of imitation crab and pink mayo.

Dairy Free Cauliflower Alfredo Sauce

Photo credit Blendtec

Makes 1 quart

Ingredients

1/3 cup raw cashews

2 cups cauliflower florets

2 cups chicken stock
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

1 tsp nutritional yeast

1/4 tsp white pepper

1/2 tsp salt
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

6 cloves garlic

Directions

1. Combine cashews, cauliflower, and chicken stock to a medium saucepan. Bring to a boil, then add nutritional yeast, pepper, and salt. Simmer for 20 minutes.

2. Carefully add 1/2 of mixture to Blendtec (make sure to include at least 1 cup of the chicken stock). Press the Soup button. Add the garlic and the remaining cauliflower mixture. Press Soup button to blend again. 

Creamy Tomato Slow-Cooker Chicken

Photo credit Betty Crocker

Ingredients

1 lb boneless skinless chicken thighs

2 cloves garlic, finely chopped

1-1/2 tsp dried basil leaves

1/2 tsp dried oregano leaves

1/2 tsp salt

1/4 tsp pepper

1 jar (15 oz) Alfredo sauce (or dairy free Alfredo sauce, see recipe below)

1 can (14.5 oz) diced tomatoes, drained

1 can (8 oz) tomato sauce

2 T cornstarch

2 T water

Alfredo Sauce

6 cloves garlic

1/3 cup raw cashews

2 cups cauliflower florets

1-3/4 cups chicken stock

1 tsp nutritional yeast

1/4 tsp white pepper

1/2 tsp salt

Directions

1. Combine cashews, cauliflower, and chicken stock to a medium saucepan. Bring to a boil, then add nutritional yeast, pepper, and salt. Simmer for 20 minutes.

2. Carefully add 1/2 of mixture to Blendtec (make sure to include at least 1 cup of the chicken stock). Press the Soup button. Add the garlic and the remaining cauliflower mixture. Press Soup button to blend again. 

3. Spray 3-4 quart slow cooker crock with cooking spray. Arrange chicken in bottom of slow cooker. Top with garlic, basil, oregano, salt, and pepper.

4. In jar of blender, add diced tomatoes and tomato sauce to alfredo sauce. Pulse to blend until just combined. Pour mixture over chicken.

5. Cover, cook on Low heat for 5-6 hours.

6. 10 minutes before serving, in a small bowl stir together cornstarch and water. Stir into mixture in slow cooker. Increase heat setting to High. Cook uncovered 5-10 minutes longer.

7. Serve over brown rice or pasta.