Slightly Creamy Shrimp Scampi

This is a quick and easy recipe for shrimp scampi that will impress your guests!

Ingredients:

Olive oil

1/2 a yellow onion

1/2 bag of frozen shrimp or 1/2 lb uncooked shrimp

1 cup of peas (frozen, canned, or fresh)

2 tbsp minced garlic

2 tbsp smart balance

1/4 cup Lactaid cream

1. Cover the bottom of a saute pan with olive oil and add butter alternative, garlic, and onion. Turn on low heat and let the ingredients mix together and the onions soften. About 10-12 minutes.

2. Add Lactaid cream. This gives the scampi sauce a very light creamy texture and taste.

3. Increase heat to medium and add shrimp and cook until pink and warm through. Add peas a few minutes after shrimp as started to cook and become soft.

4. Mix with pasta of choice. Use about 1/2 a package and cook to desired softness while making the scampi sauce.

Yields 4-5 servings.

Condiments: Friend or Foe

Ever wonder if certain condiments contain lactose? Especially those white, creamy ones? Well, we're here to help.

Mayonnaise: traces of milk

Sour cream: traces of milk

Ranch dressing: can contain buttermilk, mayonnaise and sour cream

Creamy Italian dressing: made with buttermilk or mayonnaise to add the creamy texture

Caesar dressing: contains Parmesan cheese, a safe cheese

Blue cheese dressing: blue cheese is a safe cheese; however, the dressing could contain quite a few ingredients in there that could bother the lactose-intolerant such as milk, mayonnaise, sour cream, and yogurt.

Whipped cream: contains cream - traces of lactose

Tartar sauce: contains mayonnaise

Veggie dip: usually contains mayonnaise or sour cream or both

Butternut Squash Soup

Here's a simple, healthy soup that tastes so creamy, you'd never know it was dairy free. It was originally adapted from Food Network's Giada De Laurentiis and  is a great first course to any fall or winter meal.

Ingredients:
1 Butternut Squash, peeled and cut into ~2 inch pieces (about 8 cups)
3 cups of carrots cut into 1/2 inch pieces
1 onion, diced
1/2 cup of sage, chopped
3 garlic cloves, chopped
6 cups of chicken stock
2 Tablespoons of Smart Balance
EVOO

1)     In a stockpot, add butter, 2 tablespoons of EVOO, onion and carrots and cook over medium high heat until veggies are soft – about 5-7 minutes. Stir in garlic and cook another 30 seconds.

2)     Add the squash, chicken stock and sage. Bring to a boil and cook for about 20-30 minutes until the vegetables are soft.  Turn off heat.

3)     Use an immersion blender and blend the mixture until smooth and thick. Note: if you don’t have an immersion blender, wait until the mixture has cooled down and blend in a food processor in batches.

4) Ladle into bowls and enjoy.