Realization: Peanuts Just Taste Like Salt Anyways

As I have been delving into the world of allergy-free cooking and baking, I'm realizing a lot of our forbidden ingredients - soy sauce, peanut sauce, canned tomato soup - just taste like salt. I am now baffled at why I never wondered what the point of adding one teaspoon of soy sauce in a recipe was for - I could have just added salt!

So I haven't been too upset about soy sauce as an ingredient in a recipe as it is easy to exclude (that being said I like Chloe Coscarelli's soy-free sauce from her cookbook, Chloe's Kitchen, for when recipes call for a more substantial amount). For canned tomato soup (mustard? Plus it's actually gross), I have been using strained tomatoes with - you guessed it! - salt. For peanut sauce, well, I was a little stumped. That is, until I decided to use my favourite seed!

I wanted a dipping sauce for some spring rolls. So here it went. The pic at the bottom is a little too runny. I have since modified the recipe to get it to be thicker. I based it on this recipe so if you are good with soy, coconut and sunflower, perhaps you would be more inclined to use that one.

Peanut-Free Hemp Seed Dipping Sauce

3/4 cup hemp hearts
1/4 cup hot water
1/4 cup rice milk
2 tbsp canola oil
2 tbsp agave
1 tbsp lime juice
1 tbsp roasted garlic or 1 clove fresh garlic, minced
1 1/2 tsp salt or 2 tbsp Chloe's Soy Free Sauce (if on hand - will at least help justify why you took the time to make it)
1 tsp toasted sesame oil
Drop of molasses for colour

Blend in Vitamix until smooth and warm. Taste for seasonings - serve!