Let There be Roux

Today I was asked how I managed to make a cream soup both vegan and gluten-free.

"How do you make it creamy without using milk?"

There are a few ways to thicken and creamify your soups without using dairy or wheat; One option is to include potato with your ingredients and then show that soup who's boss with an immersion blender. Another is to simply use soy or nut milk, which I find offers the illusion of creaminess, but doesn't do much for the taste buds.

One of the fundamentals of cooking is being able to make a roux. Oh, that flavourful and magical mix of butter, flour, and milk that when subject to heat, becomes the base of most non-tomato-based sauces. If the story of creation were about cooking, God would have made a roux on the first day.

But that's not at all vegan OR gluten-free, is it!? (interrobang!)

No, but I can teach you one that is. All you need is 2 cups of unsweetened soy milk, 3 tablespoons of rice flour, and 3 tablespoons of Earth Balance or other vegan margarine.

Melt the butter in a saucepan over medium heat
Stir in flour with whisk
Allow mixture to bubble - don't wait for it to brown. Make sure you stir. Since margarine is oil based, if your vegan roux browns before you add the "milk", you are simply burning your rice flour.
After a couple of minutes of stirring and bubbling, slowly whisk in your "milk".
Turn down heat to medium-low, and stir constantly until desired consistency is reached.

Ta-da!

Mix this in to broth soups to make them creamy, add garlic and parsley for a vegan alfredo sauce, or melt Daiya cheese into your roux for a delicious cheeseless sauce.