Book of Yum

Thin gluten-free crust with pine nut “cheese”, roasted sweet potatoes, fresh basil, roasted mushrooms and roasted red pepper, prior to baking.

One big challenge to the dairy-free, soy-free lifestyle is that of a cheesy pizza. Sure, you can make a tomato sauce and just skip the cheese, but it doesn’t have that rich mouth feel or decadence. I’ve played with a variety of solutions to this problem. There are a number of lactose free or dairy free cheeses on the market, including almond, rice, and soy cheeses that are also gluten-free. However, finding a commercial w”cheese” that is truly 100% dairy-free as well as soy-free can be another story. Besides, if you’ve ever tried these cheese “substitutes” you know that they taste almost nothing like real cheese, and often don’t seem to add anything good to a recipe besides the idea of cheese. Luckily vegan cookbooks such as The Uncheese Cookbook have more creative alternatives using a variety of “real” foods as the base for their un-cheese recipes. Some of these recipes use soy (frequently) or gluten (less frequently), but there are many options that do work for a gluten,dairy, and soy-free diet.

However, interestingly one of the most successful soy and dairy-free cheese substitutes I found was not in a vegan cookbook, exactly, but on a related raw foods cookbook. Raw foodists might find it sacrilege, but I used it in a baked lasagna to wonderful effect. This recipe for soy and dairy-free lasagna has been one of the most popular recipes at the Book of Yum because it answers a real need in the food-sensitive community for TASTY cheese substitutes. This recipe came to mind when Mother was visiting us this week. She can eat gluten, but is allergic to soy and dairy, so she doesn’t often have the chance to have “cheesy” dishes. She is also allergic to garlic and avoids tomatoes due to RA. When I decided to make a dairy-free pizza, I thought immediately that I should try using the yummy pine nut sauce on it as the “cheese” base. I was also inspired by the season to roast sweet potato cubes and mushrooms for toppings. I decided to simplify the pine nut recipe a bit and found it was just as good, if not better than the original. It was a big hit with my allergy-sensitive Mom, and the DH and I enjoyed it as well. The combination of pine nut sauce, fresh basil, and roasted vegetables was absolutely addicting. Because I had extra pizza crusts I decided to also make a dairy-free walnut pesto and top it with roasted vegetables as well. Yum! And nobody missed the cheese (or soy) at all.

Looking for a gluten-free pizza crust recipe?
Here’s a fun thin-crust recipe- it doesn’t rise much but makes enough for 6 pizzas that you can enjoy over a week’s time.
And, here’s my personal favorite crust- Carol Fenster’s classic gluten-free Pizza recipe with allergen-free pizza topping recipes

Dairy-Free Soy-Free Pine Nut Cheesy Pizza Main Course  Vegetables  Italian

Ingredients 1 gluten-free pizza crust Pine Nut “Cheese” (new version) 1/2 cup pine nuts 1 to 1 1/2 tsp. brown rice vinegar 1/4 tsp or less salt 1/8 cup water or more 1 sweet potato, peeled, cubed handful fresh basil leaves, julienned 4 baby portabella mushrooms (between crimini and portabella) 1 red pepper for roasting olive oil salt, pepper Directions Preheat oven to 400 degrees F. Soak 1/2 cup pine nuts in enough water to cover for an hour. Then drain, rinse, and blend in food processor with dash of salt, vinegar and water until you have a creamy consistency. Put in small container and reserve, refrigerating. Prepare toppings: Toss sweet potato cubes with dash of olive oil, salt and pepper if you like. Place on baking sheet. Remove stems from mushrooms and rub with a little olive oil. Season with salt and pepper if you like. Place whole red pepper on baking sheet or on oven rack along with rest of your veggies. Roast for 15 minutes and check your mushrooms. If they seem done, remove mushrooms from oven, dribbling juices over them and letting rest. If not, check mushrooms again in another 5 minutes. After they have rested, you can slice them. Roast sweet potatoes until they are fork tender but not mushy. Roast red pepper (turning occasionally) until sides are all slightly charred. When you take red pepper out of oven, place in freezer safe ziploc bag, seal, and let steam for 10 minutes on counter before removing. Rub off skin with paper or cloth towel, cut in half and de-seed. Slice and/or cut into bite sized pieces and reserve. To assemble your pizza, top with even coating of your pine nut “cheese”. If you have some, you could rub the crust first with a bit of blended sundried tomato and olive oil to give the crust a more attractive golden color that will stand out from the pine nut “cheese”. (I didn’t do that this time, Mom is also sensitive to tomatoes). Sprinkle with julienned basil, roasted sweet potato, mushroom slices and red pepper pieces. Bake following pizza crust instructions. The thin-crust pizza recipe I used requires a short bake time (12 min or less) and so is ideal. For a long baking recipe, you might bake the crust halfway before topping the pizza. Notes My dairy-free, soy-free Mom loved this pizza, and loved the pine nut sauce.

Rating:  9 Original Source:  Contents of my brain. Pine nut recipe inspired by (but different from) raw foods recipe. Do not replicate anywhere without my permission. Thanks! Recipe ID:  1335 Added:  December 18, 2008 Last Modified:  December 21, 2008

Walnut Dairy Free Pesto Recipe Sauces & Condiments  Vegetables  Italian

Ingredients 1/2 cup walnuts 2 cups fresh basil leaves sprinkle salt 1/8 cup roasted fresh onions 1/4 cup olive oil Directions Combine ingredients in blender or food processor, drizzling in olive oil as you blend it. Taste and season with more salt or other spices if desired. Enjoy! Notes I used this pesto on a gluten-free pizza crust topped with roasted sweet potatoes, roasted potatoes, roasted red pepper, roasted onion, and even half roasted chard. Yum yum yum!

Rating:  9 Original Source:  Contents of my brain, do not replicate anywhere without my permission. Recipe ID:  1334 Added:  December 15, 2008 Last Modified:  December 18, 2008

When I posted my recipe for Green Chili Corn Arepa biscuits, one of my readers recommended that I try Venezuelan black bean refried beans as they contain more antioxidents and are just as tasty as pinto beans. I thought that was an interesting idea. Personally, I love vegetarian refried beans made from scratch. I don’t know about you, but I’ve never found those cans of refried beans where the contents are all mushed into an unidentifiable copper-colored block like canned kitty food all that appealing. I want to see and taste all of my ingredients- and I definitely don’t want to taste the can that they were stored in. And what is more economical than dry beans? I can get a whole pound of dry beans for the price of a can, but using dried beans, I can make get enough for a huge batch of refried beans AND beans to freeze, and enough beans for another recipe besides. I also like my beans a tad softer than when they are canned, and soaking overnight and simmering in my slow cooker results in soft, melty beans that I just can’t resist. Some time back I developed a recipe for Perfect Refried Pinto Beans (scroll down), but I’d never tried making them with black beans. When I went to Whole Foods this weekend, I picked up a bag of black beans to try making a version with black beans, also known as turtle beans. I looked at various recipes online, and then started experimenting. Carrot might be an unconventional ingredient, but we have a huge bag of lovely organic carrots in our refrigerator, and I like the unexpected sweetness it added to the recipe. The DH was a big fan of the green chilies that I added to the recipe on a whim. He said “it’s the perfect degree of spiciness- flavor without too much heat.” I have to agree- I could eat this stuff like candy. Is that weird? Although this recipe is vegan, I used it in a quesadilla “lasagna” lunch for my non veg hubby, layering a corn tortilla with black refried beans and then cheese, covering it with two corn tortillas and adding another layer of cheese and tortilla. Although the refried beans take a little time to make, once it was made it was a matter of minutes to assemble and microwave the quesadilla. These quesadillas would also be tasty made in a cast iron pan. For me, I was perfectly happy with a vegan taco filled with refried beans. You can take a vegan taco to the next level by topping it with homemade pico de gallo, guacamole, or even avocado cubes. And now, if you don’t mind, I think me and my spoon will be heading for the refrigerator to eat some of this refried bean stuff cold…. because it is THAT good.

Oh yes, and about those antioxidents… According to the World’s Healthiest Foods web site,

“When researchers analyzed different types of beans, they found that, the darker the bean’s seed coat, the higher its level of antioxidant activity. Gram for gram, black beans were found to have the most antioxidant activity, followed in descending order by red, brown, yellow, and white beans. Overall, the level of antioxidants found in black beans in this study is approximately 10 times that found in an equivalent amount of oranges, and comparable to that found in an equivalent amount of grapes or cranberries. ”

Not to mention that black beans are high in protein, folate and magnesium. Sounds like a good excuse to make some yummy refried black beans to me! Got any other great ideas for using this black refried bean recipe? Tell me in the comments!

Vegetarian Refried Black Bean Recipe Main Course  Vegan  South American

Ingredients 3 or 4 cups black beans, homemade or canned 1 tbsp. peanut oil (or favorite oil) 1 onion, diced 1 garlic clove, crushed 1 medium carrot, diced 1 can mild green chilies (4 oz) or roasted, diced anaheim peppers 1 tsp or more cumin seeds 1 tsp oregano generous amounts of salt, pepper dash of apple cider vinegar fresh cilantro, to taste Directions Prepare beans and rinse. If using homemade black beans, you can reserve some of the cooking liquid. Heat oil in a cast iron pan to medium and saute your onion until almost translucent. Add garlic clove and diced carrot and continue cooking until carrot softens slightly. Toss in your cumin seeds and oregano, letting them heat and release their fragrance. Mix in your can of chilies and season with salt and pepper. Take out 1/2 cup or so of the onion mixture and combine in blender either with reserved cooking liquid (1/2 to 1 cup) or water. Add your beans to the cast iron pan and combine thoroughly. Add extra cumin and/or oregano if you think it needs it after tasting. Let beans heat and flavors permeate. After at least 10 minutes fold your blended liquid into the other ingredients in the pan. Let cook for another 10-20 minutes (adding extra water or cooking liquid if it gets too dry) and then taste again, adjusting seasonings- you may need more salt. Sprinkle in a dash of apple cider vinegar and fold in some fresh cilantro. A few minutes later, take the pan off the burner and serve. Notes DH loved this recipe!

Rating:  9 Original Source:  Inspired by various recipes online, but my own creation. Do not replicate anywhere without my permission. Thanks! Recipe ID:  1306 Added:  October 20, 2008 Last Modified:  October 21, 2008