Friday, May 17, 2024

Lactose Free Bechamel Sauce

We found out last year that our son is lactose intolerant. When we first found out, I had absolutely no idea just how much stuff has milk in it. There's the usual stuff, like ice cream and pizza, but tons of other stuff has it too. Since I cook a lot of pasta and love a good bechamel sauce, I wanted to figure out how to make one that my son could eat as well. This recipe uses both coconut milk and lactose free milk because I feel like if you use all coconut milk, it makes it taste too coconutty. On the other hand, lactose free milk is expensive and I loathe using up four cups of it in one meal.

Lactose Free Bechamel Sauce

4 tablespoons flour
4 tablespoons oil, preferably olive oil or avacado oil (I also use the oil from the jar of sun-dried tomatoes)
1 can coconut milk
2 cups lactose free milk
salt
pepper

1. Make a roux by cooking the oil and flour together over medium heat until lightly browned.
2. Add coconut milk and lactose free milk. Whisk until combined.
3. Heat until the sauce boils, then remove from heat and season with salt and pepper.

Lactose-free Creamy Squash Soup

Ingredients

1 can coconut milk

1 can  or 2 cups pumpkin or butternut squash puree

Chipotle chili powder

Toasted pumpkin seeds

Procedure

1. Combine coconut milk and squash over medium heat and mix while heating.

2. In a dry pan, toast pumpkin seeds until lightly browned on both sides.

3. When the soup is warm, ladle it into bowls and garnish with a dash of chipotle powder and a sprinkle of toasted pumpkin seeds.