On the Salty Side..

I have tried out a few new cooking ingredients that I thought I would share. They are certainly not new to the culinary world by any means, but they are new to my kitchen. Several vegan recipes for entrees that I have perused seem to ask for these three: tamari, tahini, and miso.

Essentially, tamari is a slightly thicker and sweeter soy sauce. It is made with more soy beans and the fermentation is apparent when I opened the bottle. It smelled like a red wine- yum. It is very good and I highly recommend it in cooking stir-fries, dipping sauces, etc. You can purchase it in a low-sodium version and a gluten-free version as well. I bought the regular tamari with the usual salt and gluten.

Miso is a soybean-based product as well. There are many different varieties of miso and in Japan they are scrutinized much like wine here. The miso paste I purchased was a mellow white miso. Miso is often used in making soups and dressings. I plan to make a salad dressing from this.
Finally, tahini is ground sesame seeds with oil. The tahini I purchased was made with toasted sesame seeds and the smokiness of the toasted seeds is apparent. I will definitely use tahini from now on when making hummus. I think tahini would be excellent added to peanut butter and spread on bread. Not only do I think the flavors would compliment each other, the protein punch from the tahini would be an added bonus.

I used all three in a recipe that said it was a “mock” macaroni and cheese made of vegan ingredients. I found the recipe online at a great vegan blog. I followed the recipe and I am certain it turned out exactly how it should have, but it was not even close to any real mac n’ cheese I have ever had. Not to say it was not delicious in its own way, but certainly not cheese-like at all. I understand now why the vegan cookbook I have does not have a recipe for mac n’ cheese. I just do not think it can truly be replicated by the vegan method of cooking. I have heard of making vegan cheese sauce using vegan cheese slices and vegetable stock. I might try this but I need to find true/actual vegan cheese slices. It seems a lot of soy cheese products out on the market have milk ingredients, such as casein, in them. POOP.

And speaking of soy products, did you know the company that makes Silk soy milk, creamers, etc. is owned by one of the biggest milk and cattle producers? You think you are doing the right thing by buying a vegan product. Smart for them. Annoying for someone who is trying to avoid giving money to any company that does not treat animals humanely.