The Science of Substitutions

If you look up substitute in the dictionary (or at dictionary.com) you will find this definition: a person or thing acting or serving in place of another.

Very matter of fact … nothing negative there. But if you look up synonyms of substitute (at thesaurus.com) these words will pop up: alternate, backup, counterfeit, imitation, makeshift, pseudo, second, simulated. Is it just me, or do all those sound kind of negative? I have discovered, however, that substitutes … that is, whole food plant based substitutes … are not negative at all. Some of them, in fact, are even better than that which they are replacing. Like almond cream, instead of dairy sour cream. Or, almond cream cheese in place of dairy cream cheese.

Right: almond sour cream
Left: Almond cream cheese and veggie spread

I have been experimenting with substitutes this week and have been pleasantly surprised. My two favorites were actually born of a mistake … or, perhaps, impatience. I was trying to make almond butter in the food processor, but after 15 minutes of noise and scrapping down the sides and very little progress toward “butter” I got irked and decided to quit. Not wanting to waste the almonds, however, I transferred my “mealy” mixture into the Vitamix, poured in enough water to puree the nuts, added some lemon juice and salt and the end result was a thick, rich, awesome almond sour cream more delicious than any dairy sour cream I have ever tasted. In fact, I would never think of spooning dairy sour cream into my mouth by itself … but this almond cream? Oh yeah!

I then took half of that mixture, added a tablespoon of my homemade powdered veggie broth mix and a few tablespoons of dehydrated vegetables to make a cream cheese type spread. These two recipes are definitely keepers, but next time I will have to write down exact amounts so that I can recreate them. Hopefully I can intentionally make them again as good as they were accidentally … so yummy on my brown rice cakes that I got from The 99 Cent Store!