Growing up my mom and I had a tradition of watching the Miss America pageant. We oohed and aahed over the glamorous evening gowns, critiqued the contestants answers in the interview portion, and always, always sang the theme song when the new queen was crowned while doing our best pageant wave. There she is, Miss Americaaa!
You can imagine my delight when I met a real beauty queen who had competed at THE Miss America Pageant! Melaina, also known as Miss Colorado 2010, and I were in the same sport nutrition graduate program at the University of Colorado at Colorado Springs. She recently had a sweet baby boy who has a milk protein allergy. Since she breastfeeds, Melaina needs to avoid all dairy in her diet to meet her babe’s needs. She reached out to me asking about my favorite dairy free recipes. I’ve tried all the following recipes with great success and think that you’ll enjoy them even if you don’t need to avoid dairy.
1. Martha Stewart French Toast Kebabs:
Substitute any non-dairy milk (soy, almond, cashew, etc) for the buttermilk and Earth Balance or similar for the butter. For the bread choice, I prefer sourdough or a hearty whole grain bread.
2. PCC Coconut Sweet Potato Soup:
Simple ingredients and simple preparation. This soup is so warming and aromatic. I halve the recipe since it’s just for the two of us (it still makes plenty). I also make a few changes to the preparation method.
First I chop and sauté a yellow onion. Then I peel and chop the sweet potatoes and add to the pot, covering everything with the broth. Simmer over medium low heat until the potatoes are fork tender and falling apart. Remove soup from heat and puree with an immersion blender. Then stir in coconut milk and spices.
3. Oh She Glows Avocado Pasta:
Creamy, dreamy pasta! Just pair with chicken, shrimp, or other protein and a veggie side for an easy weeknight dinner.
4. Ambitious Kitchen Vegan Avocado Chocolate Cake:
This cake is SO good. Don’t let the “vegan” title scare you off, it’s pure fudgy luscious-ness.
5. Opera Singer in the Kitchen Caramelized Red Onion, Spinach, and Pumpkin Hummus Pizza:
For a faster weeknight dinner, I skip making my own pizza dough and instead purchase the whole wheat pizza dough from the refrigerated section at Trader Joe’s. This recipe’s pizza toppings are so flavorful and creative. I was skeptical at first of putting hummus on pizza, but it really works!
I also think a cheese free take on BBQ chicken pizza (extra saucy) would be tasty. 🙂
Do you have any dairy free favorites, products or recipes? Please share in the comments.
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