|
|
A guide to healthier shopping and eating
What’s in the Dairy–free Fridge?
Butter – replace with dairy–free spread. Pure’s
Dairy–free Soya Spread and Dairy–free Sunflower Spread are
sold at all big supermarkets and taste good. Other brands include Granose, Suma,
Biona, Vitaquell – all available from most health stores.
Chocolate – oh, yes. OK, here’s
the bad news: milk chocolate contains – yes you’ve guessed it – milk! But
here’s the good news… .
Milk style chocolate – scrummy alternatives, such
as Free From and Plamil bars are available from supermarkets
and health stores
Plain chocolate – plain or dark chocolate is often
dairy free (just check there’s no butterfat) and is widely available
from supermarkets and health stores. Brands to look for:
Green & Black 70%
Lindt 70%
Divine Plain
Kinnerton’s Luxury Plain
Plamil Plain, with a stonking 87% cocoa content
Tesco Value After Dinner Mints are not only cheap – but much nicer
than their rivals! Ignore the cheapo
packaging and dive into that thick chocolaty minty heaven… . Usually
next to After Eights – which are also vegan
More chocolate! – the divinely decadent Booja-Booja
range... they have to be tasted to be believed! You can buy them in
good delis, health stores – and from Viva!.
In fact, check out our Gifts For Life catalogue (available online )
to see the fabulous range of chocolate on offer, from coconut choccy bars
to chocolate covered mango and everything in-between!
Cheese – you won’t be able to replace that
hunk of Brie or blue cheese and we’re not even going to pretend – but
there are some good dairy-free alternatives. Here are some of
our faves:
Hard – the main brands are –
Redwood’s Cheezly (from health shops or direct from Redwood – see
stockists list at end of this Guide for details and note - Viva! Supporters
get a 10% discount on orders of £25 or more via mail order!) –
- Melting Cheezly in blocks:
Mozzarella (Holland & Barrett), Cheddar (from Tesco, Holland & Barrett
and Waitrose), Gouda and Edam flavours
- Non-melting Cheezly in blocks:
Garlic & Herb, Nachos Style, Red Cheddar and Cheddar with bacon-style
pieces flavours (from health shops or direct)
- Melting Cheezly Mozzarella
and Cheddar flavours in slices (health shops or direct)
There are also:
- Scheese (available from
health stores) in no less than nine flavours including Cheddar, Hickory
Smoked and Mozzarella
- Tofutti melting ‘Mozzarella’ style
cheese slices
- Parmesan style Florentino
Parmezano is found pre-grated in little tubs at most good supermarkets
and health stores. Very good with Italian dishes
Cream Cheese – dairy-free cream
cheese is delicious and comes in several flavours. It’s great on crackers
or toast – and the plain stuff makes a mean cheesecake. Available in
health stores:
- Tofutti – Original
(plain), French Herb, Garlic & Herb, Herbs & Chives
- Redwood – Sour Cream & Chive,
Garlic & Herb
- Fromsoy – Horseradish,
French Onion, Garlic & Herb
Cream – you can still enjoy the richness of cream,
but without the health risks!
- Single – Provamel
Alpro Soya Dream is available from major supermarkets and health stores,
Granose Soya Creem from health stores
- Double – Soya Too
whipping cream and squirty whipped cream are only available at present from
branches of Fresh & Wild (London or Bristol) but you
can buy them mail order from Vegan Store (see stockists at the end of this
Guide)
Custard – Provamel Alpro make superb custard in a
carton. Their Soya Dessert (available in Vanilla, Forest Fruits, Chocolate
or Caramel) is another winner – and as well as lavishing it on fruit
and so forth, try it as a filling in our Celebration
Cake recipe. Find these products in the
Free From section of a good supermarket or else at your health store.
Ice cream – Enjoy that summer moment without dairy.
- Swedish Glace is available
in most big supermarkets. Flavours include delicious Vanilla, Raspberry,
Strawberry, Chocolate, Mocha & Chocolate and Caramel. Their Choc Ices
are also excellent
- Tofutti is another fantastic
brand. Look out for Better Pecan, Madagascan Vanilla, Strawberry
Supreme, Chocolate Cookies and Vanilla Chocolate Fudge. They also
produce Rock’n’Roll,
which is rather like Vienetta – but dairy-free of course!
- First Glacé Oat
Supreme is another excellent choice, available in health stores
- Mother Hemp has its own
gorgeous range also: Vanilla, Strawberry and Mint Choc Chip, made from creamy
hemp seed milk. Available from health stores
Free From Range – most of the major supermarkets
have a Free-From section, where you will find some dairy-free products. Try
the ‘organic’ or ‘health’ sections, also, as these
usually have goodies such as veggie Worcestershire sauce, egg and dairy-free
mayonnaise and suchlike.
Mayonnaise – not saturated with egg and suchlike,
but creamy-licious and animal free, such as Plamil’s Egg-free Mayonnaise,
which is available in big supermarkets (try the Free From section) as well
as health stores.
Milk – soya, oat, nut and rice, not stolen from a
cow! Soya milk is another good source of calcium and you can use it in tea
and coffee, as well as on cereal and in cooking – just as you would
cow’s milk. Good brands include:
- Provamel’s Alpro
Soya Sweetened (non-chilled with vitamins and calcium) and Alpro Soya (chilled)
(available from supermarkets)
- So Good (chilled, with
calcium and B12)
- Supermarket own brands (usually
made by Provamel)
See here for the Viva! and VVF Taste
Test!
Nuts – almonds and cashews make a great cream substitute
in both sweet and savoury foods. Grind them down as fine as you can
in a grinder/blender and then add to smoothies, sauces and so on. Chock
full of goodness too.
Tofu – the wonderfood! It’s made from soya
beans and has been a popular standard in the Orient for thousands of years.
It contains excellent levels of calcium, folate and other vitamins as well
as being high in healthy vegetable protein and low in cholesterol and fat.
The smoked and marinated varieties are great in savoury dishes and the silken
version in sweet foods. (See Tofu Heaven for
more ideas.)
Try recipes such as Vegetable Pancakes,
Chocolate Mousse and Red
Onion & Thyme Tart – and
there are more!
Brands to look for:
- Cauldron – firm
- plain or smoked - good for stir-fries or lasagne. Available from large
supermarkets and health stores
- Mori–Nu – silken
tofu, a wonderful egg-replacer for quiches, mousses and so on. Available
from large supermarkets, health stores and Oriental stores
- Dragonfly, Clear Spot
and other brands available from your health store, often organic
- If you live in a largeish
town or city, look for your local Oriental supermarket - they also stock tofu
of different varieties and it’s often much cheaper than elsewhere
Yeast Flakes – also add a slightly cheesy taste to
savoury dishes. Marigold (the vegetable stock powder people) make it;
it’s available in large tubs with ‘Marigold Engevita’ on
the side. Available from good supermarkets or health stores. Try Asparagus
Gratinée or Macaroni ‘Cheese’.
Yoghurt – if you’re a yoghurt fan, no worries,
you can now buy dairy-free varieties. And plain soya yoghurt makes a mean
Raita – cucumber and yoghurt dip used to accompany Indian dishes. Try
the recipe here.
- Provamel
Alpro – Yofu
comes in plain and fruity varieties – available in big supermarkets
and health stores. The plain is sold in a large pot, the fruity sort in
large and small pots
- Sojasun – wider variety
of flavours, available from health stores: plain in a 250g pot; 125 glass pots
in : lemon, black cherry, apricot & guava, raspberry and strawberry
|
