Dairy free sour cream - Thermomix

Soak nuts and seeds overnight in water. Add all ingredients (including soaking water) to Thermomix and blend for 1 minute on speed 9, scrape down sides, blend again until smooth:

85g (1/2 cup) sunflower seeds
85g (1/2 cup) pine nuts
250g (1 cup) filtered water
1 tsp sea salt
75g (1/3 cup) fresh lemon juice
1 small clove garlic, or dash of garlic powder
1 tsp onion powder

If you want to use this ‘sour cream’ in sweet dishes, leave out the onion powder and garlic!

(Original recipe from “Rejuvenate Your Life” by Serene Allison; variation by me.)

Cheaper version

Soak nuts and seeds overnight in water. Add all ingredients (including soaking water) to Thermomix and blend for 1 minute on speed 9, scrape down sides, blend again until smooth:

100g blanched almonds (you can blanch your own by pouring boiling water over raw almonds, leaving to sit for a while, then popping the skins off)
50g sunflower seeds
1 tsp herb/vege salt
3 tsp dried onion flakes
1 tsp *savoury yeast flakes
60g fresh lemon juice
250g filtered water


Tip:
* You can buy savoury yeast flakes from the health food shop – they add a bit of a ‘cheesey’ flavour.

Date Paste - A natural sweetener

Date paste is one of the healthiest and most economical sweeteners you can make at home. Plus it is so easy and quick to make.

Makes about 2 cups

INGREDIENTS
450g pitted dates
3/4 cup water
1 tsp pure vanilla extract
1/4 tsp Himalayan salt

INSTRUCTIONS

• Pack your pitted dates real tight in a glass jar.
• Pour the water over the dates, cover and let soak overnight.
• After the dates have soaked, transfer the entire content of the jar, including the water, to the bowl of your thermomix or food processor.
• Add vanilla extract and salt and process for 5 - 8 minutes or until really smooth and creamy.
• Transfer back to the glass jar and place in the fridge where it will keep for about 3 months.

What foods can I use Date Paste in?

Any liquid sweetener (honey, agave nectar, maple syrup) in most recipes can be replaced with date paste. I have used date paste in pretty much everything.

How much date paste should I add to my recipes?
If you are making baked goods I would replace the liquid sweetener (ie honey, maple syrup) with exactly the same amount of date syrup as it may alter the consistency if you change the quantity of wet ingredients. However for other recipes you might be able to experiment with the quantity a bit more. For smoothies and recipes where it’s easy to adjust the amounts I would just add the date paste to taste. The date paste is watered down with water so it may not be quite as sweet as other sweeteners, so you might need to add more if you want it a bit sweeter.


Nutritional snapshot:
Dates contain loads of vitamins and minerals such as calcium, iron and magnesium and are great for constipation and weight loss.