Dairy is for the Birds!

 

Image: (Eat Real Good)

For those of you who don't know I've recently discovered that I am sensitive to all things dairy.  It may be lactose intolerance, it may be just a sensitivity, but whatever it is, I feel a thousand times better not eating dairy.  After only one week of knowing what it feels like to be in my body with out dairy my desire for chocolate, cheese, ice cream, and other delciously dairy-ed out treats has completely disappeared.  Anyone who personally knows me knows I have an epic sweet tooth, so this is kind of nuts.  I am a little sad that I can't eat certain foods, but knowing how good I can feel makes me want to avoid dairy completely.  The bad news is dairy is hidden in many, many things.  The good news is I get to experiment with recipes (or this could be bad news if you're going to be tasting these creative concoctions).

I am in the process of figuring out which dairy replacements I like and don't like.  The memory of real dairy is so fresh in my mind (or maybe just imprinted on my taste buds) that I can be a good judge, but finding tasty substitutions could be hard.  For example, I've found a vegan buttery spread that is pretty legit (Earth Balance), but my taste buds have a general disdain towards pretty much all dairy free cream cheese. 

Last week I made chili in a slow cooker (recipe coming soon).  Realizing I wouldn't be able to put cheese or sour cream on top, I decided to try my hand at Dairy Free cornbread to go along with it.  After a bit of googling I found a recipe from Whole Foods that seemed simple and easy. 

Unfortunately, to me, it came out pretty bland.  You could taste that it was oil and soy milk, not butter and real milk.  The loaf itself was moist, but the lack of savoriness and creamy flavor left my tongue feeling like it was just to dry.  I'm not going to give in so easily, though, on this one.  The comments from reviewers on the recipe page suggested using a vegan butter spread instead of oil and maple syrup instead of sugar.  Since I have plenty of baking ingredients, I'll be trying this one again. 

I'm not the best cook in the world, so any one with any substitution suggestions should leave them in the comment area.  I'll follow up when I get to try again and let you know how it goes.

Recipe after the jump:


Whole Foods Market Dairy Free Cornbread

Ingredients

1 1/2 cups yellow cornmeal

1 1/2 cups flour

6 tablespoons granulated sugar

1 tablespoon baking powder

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

1 teaspoon salt

1 1/2 cups plain soy milk or rice milk

2 large eggs

1/2 cup corn oil

Instructions

Preheat oven to 400°F. Oil a (9-inch) square baking pan and set it aside.

In a large bowl, whisk together cornmeal, flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda and salt. In a second large bowl, whisk together soy milk, eggs and oil. Add milk mixture to cornmeal mixture and stir until just combined.

Pour batter into prepared pan and bake until golden brown and a toothpick inserted in the middle comes out clean, 25 to 30 minutes.

Nutrition

Per serving: 180 calories (80 from fat), 9g total fat, 1g saturated fat, 25mg cholesterol, 300mg sodium, 23g total carbohydrate (1g dietary fiber, 5g sugar), 4g protein

Source: Whole Foods Market, http://www.wholefoodsmarket.com/recipes/1442