A creamy "sour cream" alternative

I think I am always writing about foods I love. Today, I am doing the same thing. I do love sour cream. I love the creamy goodness on a baked potato or a quesadilla. Over the weekend my daughter made some mock sour cream for the lactose intolerant among us and it was surprisingly good, though all mock versions of recipes take a little time to get used to them.

This recipe uses tofu as the base and I thought it was very creamy, thanks to the cashews. It wasn't fat-free but it was the good kind of fat - totally unsaturated. We plan to experiment with it to see if we can give it the same flavor with less fat from the cashews but to be honest, tofu is not very flavorful without adding something like the cashews, onion powder or lemon juice.

One reason we wanted to try it was because the last time we purchased a very expensive Tofutti brand of mock sour cream we found it contained milk products. That made me very frustrated because if I didn't mind using milk products I would just use sour cream. Tofutti was much more expensive and -- I guess I am still bent out of shape about that one.

I was a little surprised when I tasted our concoction just how little it tasted like onions. I can't tell you why. I do think this would make a good base for a sour cream salad dressing or dip. If you added garlic and parsley, I think it would make a good ranch dressing -- maybe more water and perhaps some red pepper. Chives would be good and if using it with Mexican dishes -- cilantro. Yum!

Creamy Tofu Sour Cream

1-12 ounce pack extra firm tofu
1/2 cup water
1/2 cup raw cashews
1-1/2 tablespoons lemon juice
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon onion powder

Soak cashews in water overnight or until soft. Place all ingredients into blender and blend until smooth and creamy.

That's it.