Monday, June 9, 2014
*LOW-FAT* VERSION OF MY VEGAN BOURSIN®-STYLE SPREAD
Just in case you aren't familiar with Boursin®, here's some background: From Wikipedia: "Boursin® cheese is a soft creamy cheese available in a variety of flavours. Its flavor and texture is somewhat similar to the American cream cheese.Boursin® cheese was first produced in 1957 by François Boursin in Normandy. Boursin® is a trademark - Boursin® cheese was at one time produced exclusively in Croisy-sur-Eure, France, by the Boursin® company, a subsidiary of Group Bel, but is now also produced in the United States for North American distribution by Unilever."
**NOTE: This recipe does require another recipe-- 1/2 cup of my low-fat Coconut-Corn Spread butter sub (contains no oil). It's easy to make and has many uses-- on toast, potatoes, vegetables, etc., so I keep some in the fridge at all times. You can make it several days ahead of making the Boursin-style spread. The recipe for it is just below the Boursin-style spread recipe **
Nutritional info:
Although this lowfat vegan version of the spread tastes and feels rich, 1 tablespoon contains less than 23 calories, less than 1.5 g fat, and no cholesterol. Another plus-- this lowfat vegan version contains over 100 mg LESS sodium than the "real thing" .
As a comparison, 1 tablespoon of my original vegan version (in “World Vegan Feast”) contains 47 calories and 4 g of fat.
1 tablespoon of the "real thing" (commercial dairy Boursin®) contains 120 calories, 13 g of fat (8 g saturated), and 35 mg cholesterol.
**I took this to a dinner party recently and got rave reviews, BTW.**
Printable Copy (includes Corn Spread recipe)
BRYANNA'S
LOW-FAT VERSION OF VEGAN BOURSIN®-STYLE SPREAD
Servings:
32
Yield:
2 cups
Basic
Spread Mixture:
1 (12.3 oz.) box firm or extra-firm SILKEN tofu,
prepared as instructed in NOTE below in bold, just above recipe text
1/2 cup Coconut Corn Butter (see recipe
below )
1 1/2 teaspoons lemon juice
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon white miso
1/2 teaspoon guar gum
1/2 cup raw cashews or shelled raw sunflower seeds, soaked OR ground very fine in a coffee/spice mill or mini-chopper (See NOTE at beginning
of recipe instructions)
Basic
Flavoring:
1-2 medium cloves garlic, crushed
1-2 teaspoons snipped fresh chives OR 1/2
tsp. dried dill weed
1 teaspoon dried parsley or 1 tablespoon
fresh
1/4 teaspoon freshly-ground pepper
Alternative
Flavorings: (based on the different varieties available from Boursin®)
1.) Omit herbs and garlic and use more
pepper
2.) Use shallots instead of garlic
3.) Make a sweet version with chopped nuts
and dried fruit (Omit the Basic Flavoring, of course!)
4.) To the Basic Flavoring, add some
chopped roasted red pepper or sundried tomato
5.) To the Basic Flavoring, add such herbs
as basil or dill weed
6.) Make a Holiday version by adding
chopped apple and dried cranberries, and a touch of cinnamon (Omit the Basic
Flavoring, of course!)
NOTE ABOUT CASHEWS or SUNSEEDS:
If you have a powerful blender like a Vita-Mix, you don't have to grind the
nuts first. Just soak them for 10 minutes in boiling water to soften them up,
then drain them.
To
prepare the tofu:
Crumble the tofu in a clean tea towel or piece
of cotton sheeting, gather the ends up and twist, knead, and squeeze for a
couple of minutes to extract as much of the water from the tofu as possible.
OR, IF YOU HAVE A TOFU PRESS (or USA Amazon link), place the whole block of silken tofu in it and
press for 30 minutes. Discard liquid and crumble the tofu into the food
processor or high-speed blender.
Add the remaining Basic Spread Mixture
ingredients in the order given EXCEPT for the cashews and flavoring
ingredients. Blend or process at high speed for several minutes. Be patient--
it has to be VERY smooth. You may have to stop the machine a couple of times
and scrape the sides and push the ingredients that have accumulated under the
blade towards the middle. When smooth, add the ground or soaked cashews and
blend again, in the same way.
When as smooth as possible, and blending
easily without help, add the Basic Flavoring, or whatever additions you prefer.
Blend again if you want them well-incorporated into the spread, or pulse if you
want, for instance, small pieces of apple or other fruit, nuts, or vegetables,
to be discernible.
Scoop into 3 straight-sided oiled 6-ounce ramekins, cover with plastic wrap, and refrigerate. They will firm up in a few
hours (though it will be softer than real commercial Boursin), and can be
served out of the ramekins.
NOTES: 1.) The spread might seem to "puff up" a bit after a few hours-- this is the guar gum expanding. Just stir it down and smooth out again. 2.) You can freeze this.
Nutrition Facts
Nutrition
(per serving/1 tablespoon): 22.4 calories; 57%
calories from fat; 1.5g total fat; 0.0mg cholesterol; 85.2mg sodium; 39.0mg
potassium; 1.2g carbohydrates; 0.2g fiber; 0.3g sugar; 1.1g net carbs; 1.2g
protein.
BRYANNA'S
COCONUT-CORN SPREAD (butter substitute for spreading on breads, potatoes and
vegetables, etc.)
Yield:
about 2 cups
This spread is easy, inexpensive, and needs
no exotic ingredients. It can be soy-free. It melts when spread on hot food and
has a clean rich taste.
1/3 cup yellow cornmeal
1/3 cup cold water
2/3 cup hot water
1/4 teaspoon agar powder
1/2 cup warm water
1/2 cup finely shredded UN-sweetened
coconut
1/3 cup nondairy milk
2 teaspoons lemon juice
1 1/4 teaspoons salt
Mix in a microwavable bowl or a small
saucepan, mix the cornmeal and 1/3 cup of the cold water. Stir in the agar
powder, and then the hot water.
Cook in a double-boiler-type arrangement
(with the saucepan inside of another pan of simmering water) for 10 minutes, OR
MICROWAVE on high power in the bowl for 1 minute, whisk, microwave 1 minute
more, whisk, and microwave 1 minute more.
Place this in a blender along with the warm
water, coconut, milk, lemon juice, and salt. Blend for several minutes, until as
smooth as possible (this is important). Be patient! It may have a bit of graininess
from the coconut, but should not have much.
Place in a covered container in the
refrigerator. It firms up nicely, but remains spreadable. It's good on veggies,
too, and you can add garlic and broil it for garlic toast (maybe with a
sprinkle of vegan parmesan).
Nutrition
Facts
Nutrition
(per 2 tablespoons): 27.8 calories; 53% calories
from fat; 1.7g total fat; 0.0mg cholesterol; 151.9mg sodium; 27.3mg potassium;
2.8g carbohydrates; 0.6g fiber; 0.2g sugar; 2.2g net carbs; 0.6g protein; 0.6
points.
Enjoy!
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3 comments:
i am SO trying this! yum!
The boursin type spread is absolutely delicious and does very much taste like the real thing, or as much as I remember in any event. I did find the coconut-corn spread way too salty with 1 1/4 tsp of salt and even my salt-aholic room mate thought it too much. But, having said that, while I followed the written instructions there is no mention on when to add the 1/3 cup of milk and had left it out and that probably didn't help. I made a second batch, with the milk and reduced salt and it was better. Quite a genius idea, this "butter".
Ruth
Oops! Thanks for the heads-up! The milk goes in with the coconu, etc. I've corrected the text.
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