The Swap List
What you get to keep, and how to make it
Download the printable version (PDF)Two pages. Made for the refrigerator door.
Nobody quits at nine in the evening because they miss dairy. They quit because they want something crunchy, and there is nothing in the house that answers.
So this is sorted by the craving, not by the food group. Keep it where you plan the shopping.
The rule that predicts the rest
If the original was soft, creamy or crumbly, the swap works straight off. Ricotta, sour cream, ice cream, cheese sauce, butter — all of them.
If it needed stretch or snap, it needs a setting agent and a little technique. Agar to make a cheese firm enough to shred; kappa carrageenan if you want real melt. Worth knowing before you spend an afternoon on it.
Creamy
- Ice creamFrozen fruit blended smooth, or churned cashew for the rich kind.
- Milk1 cup oats or cashews to 4 cups water. Blend, strain. Two minutes.
- Cream cheeseBlended cashews with lemon. Strain overnight for spreadable.
- Sour creamSilken tofu with lemon and vinegar — the double acid is the trick.
- Cheese sauceBoiled potato and carrot blended with their own water. No nuts needed.
- ButterRefined coconut oil, avocado oil, and a plant buttermilk.
Salty and savory
- ParmesanCashews, nutritional yeast, garlic, salt. Ground fine. Two minutes.
- Sliceable cheeseCashew base set with agar. Grates, slices, keeps a week.
- BurgersBlack bean and sweet potato. Bake, don’t fry.
- BaconCoconut flakes with tamari, maple and smoke. Or thin carrot ribbons.
- KetchupTomato paste, vinegar, a little honey. Four minutes, no cooking.
- MayoBlended cashew and tofu with lemon and mustard.
Crunchy — the one that breaks people
- Marinated, dried chickpeasSeason, then dry them properly. If they aren’t bone dry they go chewy.
- Soaked, seasoned, dried nutsBetter than anything in a bag, and you choose what’s on them.
- Kale chipsMassaged with tahini rather than oil. Low and slow.
- Sweet potato or beet chipsMandoline thin, single layer, long time, low oven.
- PopcornAir popped, spritzed with water so the nutritional yeast sticks.
A dehydrator earns its counter space faster than most appliances if crunch is your weakness.
Sweet
- SugarDate paste. Soak, blend, use about 1:1 by volume. Keeps its fiber.
- CaramelMedjool dates blended with plant milk and vanilla.
- Chocolate puddingBlended avocado, cocoa, a little maple. Nobody guesses.
- Candy barNut butter with cacao or carob and a little honey stirred in.
- SodaSparkling water and a splash of real juice. Or muddled fruit, no juice at all.
What not to buy
The plant-based aisle is mostly junk food that happens to be vegan
Chemically produced, high in sodium and fat, low in nutrition. The Beyond and Impossible burgers especially. Being sold in a health food store does not make a thing healthy. The ingredient list is the standard, not the shelf.
About the salt
What comes out is refined salt — and most standard sea salt has been processed too. Use Himalayan, Celtic sea salt or Real Salt. The processing matters more than the trace minerals people usually talk about.
Start with three: the parmesan, the ketchup, and a plant milk. All three take minutes and are nearly impossible to ruin. Get a small win first.
“And God said, Behold, I have given you every herb bearing seed, which is upon the face of all the earth, and every tree, in the which is the fruit of a tree yielding seed; to you it shall be for meat.”
Genesis 1:29
It reads like a list of what there is, not a list of what is forbidden.
Blessings,
Paul & Ann
Read next
The Salad Box
Replacing is the fun half. This is the other one — a salad bar in your own refrigerator, and most of the week’s prep done in an hour.
Read the articleIf you’re wondering what to put on the plate
The Yes List — 25 foods worth adding
Replacing is half of it. The other half is what you add. Twenty-five foods worth getting onto your plate, and what each one is doing there.
Send me the list
