Vegan Milk
This is mostly for azstrength, but hopefully others will enjoy it, too.
Right now I have a pot of Spanish Rice boiling away on the stove, and it reminded me that I needed to jot down some basics that I like to keep in my kitchen, so I thought I'd start with the primary staple - non-dairy milks.
I've found that different milks have different uses. Soy is the most common you'll likely find, but it's significantly lower on my list these days than it was when I first went veg. And although a lot of people enjoy Hemp, I hated its flavor, so I've never used it beyond that first cup I drank.
Here's a list of milks I've tried and how I like to use them:
Rice for Drinking and Baking:
I love the flavor of Rice Dream's rice milk. This is the one I often turn to for drinking straight up if I'm so inclined. It also works quite nicely in my cereal or for my hot chocolates. I've also found it works pretty well in most treats in which I don't need/want fat - hot chocolate, quickbreads, pancakes, etc. However, because it lacks fat, don't use rice milk in your more decadent recipes - or at least not the ones you want to share with others.
Almond for almost anything:
I enjoy the flavor of Almond milk so much more than that of Soy. It tastes ok to drink it straight (thought I still prefer rice's flavor best for this), and it's not so overpowering a flavor that you notice it mixed into dishes. Plus, almonds already have calcium in them, so you know even the store-bought almond milks didn't have much, if any, calcium supplement added. (not that I've verified this - just a hunch based on what I know about almonds being one source of calcium) Finally, you get some fat in almond milk, so it's great for puddings, baked goods, or bisque soups.
Soy for Travel:
Because it is the most common non-dairy alternative, I know I can rely on finding it whenever I travel. Even most Starbucks let me substitute soy milk in my hot chocolate. It has a an ok flavor once it's mixed into things, but I'm not too keen on drinking it straight unless it's one of the "fresh" cartons from the Asian store. Like Almond Milk, it has decent fat content, so if my recipe relies on some fat, it's a quick thing to grab. However, processed soy products are something to keep an eye on, because they suck your iodine. (Tofu is the worst for this, so always make sure you add some iodized salt or something similar with nutritional iodine when cooking with tofu so you don't end up deficient if you eat it often.)
Coconut for Ice Cream:
This milk has the highest fat content I know of from the other alternatives. I've found it also works well in other treats and bisque soups, but be warned that it does have a lot more fat. Even the "light" and coconut milk beverages still have more fat in them than other non-dairy milks. Also, coconut milks have seemed to keep a pretty strong flavor in dishes. Even when I've cooked with it and the "coconut" flavor itself fades, there's still a different taste that seems to be in the background that I don't notice as much with the other milks. Granted, I'm pretty sensitive to tastes compared to most people (yay for being a supertaster!), but if you don't like coconut's flavor, you might want to run some small experiments first before cooking huge dishes.
Right now I have a pot of Spanish Rice boiling away on the stove, and it reminded me that I needed to jot down some basics that I like to keep in my kitchen, so I thought I'd start with the primary staple - non-dairy milks.
I've found that different milks have different uses. Soy is the most common you'll likely find, but it's significantly lower on my list these days than it was when I first went veg. And although a lot of people enjoy Hemp, I hated its flavor, so I've never used it beyond that first cup I drank.
Here's a list of milks I've tried and how I like to use them:
Rice for Drinking and Baking:
I love the flavor of Rice Dream's rice milk. This is the one I often turn to for drinking straight up if I'm so inclined. It also works quite nicely in my cereal or for my hot chocolates. I've also found it works pretty well in most treats in which I don't need/want fat - hot chocolate, quickbreads, pancakes, etc. However, because it lacks fat, don't use rice milk in your more decadent recipes - or at least not the ones you want to share with others.
Almond for almost anything:
I enjoy the flavor of Almond milk so much more than that of Soy. It tastes ok to drink it straight (thought I still prefer rice's flavor best for this), and it's not so overpowering a flavor that you notice it mixed into dishes. Plus, almonds already have calcium in them, so you know even the store-bought almond milks didn't have much, if any, calcium supplement added. (not that I've verified this - just a hunch based on what I know about almonds being one source of calcium) Finally, you get some fat in almond milk, so it's great for puddings, baked goods, or bisque soups.
Soy for Travel:
Because it is the most common non-dairy alternative, I know I can rely on finding it whenever I travel. Even most Starbucks let me substitute soy milk in my hot chocolate. It has a an ok flavor once it's mixed into things, but I'm not too keen on drinking it straight unless it's one of the "fresh" cartons from the Asian store. Like Almond Milk, it has decent fat content, so if my recipe relies on some fat, it's a quick thing to grab. However, processed soy products are something to keep an eye on, because they suck your iodine. (Tofu is the worst for this, so always make sure you add some iodized salt or something similar with nutritional iodine when cooking with tofu so you don't end up deficient if you eat it often.)
Coconut for Ice Cream:
This milk has the highest fat content I know of from the other alternatives. I've found it also works well in other treats and bisque soups, but be warned that it does have a lot more fat. Even the "light" and coconut milk beverages still have more fat in them than other non-dairy milks. Also, coconut milks have seemed to keep a pretty strong flavor in dishes. Even when I've cooked with it and the "coconut" flavor itself fades, there's still a different taste that seems to be in the background that I don't notice as much with the other milks. Granted, I'm pretty sensitive to tastes compared to most people (yay for being a supertaster!), but if you don't like coconut's flavor, you might want to run some small experiments first before cooking huge dishes.