Monday, May 19, 2014

Vegan Dressings and Sauces from Terrapin Ridge Farms

Terrapin Ridge Farms was kind enough to send me a generous sampling of their vegan products; it took me some time to figure out the best way to compare them equitably.


Terrapin Ridge Farms is not a vegan company, but they carry many vegan products: all of which are clearly marked "vegan."


I decided that since they were all intended for marinade and/or cooking, I'd use them each in an identical preparation and have a one-plate showdown.  I let equal pieces of tofu marinate for the same amount of time.

 

Then, I placed them on a parchment-lined baking sheet.


For the record, I took great care to keep the tofu and bottles in the same order as their corresponding tofu slices so that I'd remember which was which.  I didn't want to resort to signage, because that would have been crazy.


I baked the tofu for 50 minutes at 350 degrees, flipping once.


While the tofu was baking, I prepared sauteed kale with each of the marinades: separately.  Once the tofu was finished, I served it atop its coordinating kale with brown rice.


Everything smelled so delicious; even 89 couldn't resist.


I started with the toasted sesame and ginger vinaigrette because I don't love ginger and I didn't expect to like it.  To my surprise, it was extremely pleasant and subtle as a tofu marinade, but a bit too strong overall on the sauteed kale.


The garlic & herb vinaigrette was also light, albeit boasting a little more punctuated flavor than the sesame ginger; it too was surprisingly strong on the kale.


I'd been looking forward to the dijon mustard vinaigrette the most, because sometimes often I'm lazy and don't feel like making my own.  It was rather plain on the tofu, but extremely pleasant on the sauteed kale.


Finally, the roasted pineapple habanero sauce was YUM.  Seriously, that's what my notes said (yes; I take notes).  It was sweet with a hint of spiciness (do be aware that I have a high tolerance for heat) and just great on everything: definitely my favorite of the four.


The taste test was an overall success, but I had a lot of sauce left I wasn't done yet.


I couldn't resist making a raw kale salad with the dijon mustard vinaigrette.  Surprisingly, I didn't love it.  And I generally love dijon kale.

pre-massage

However, as a dip for raw veggies it was terrific.


So then I was planning on trying all of the other flavors as dips (after all, they were all marked "dipping sauce"), but when I found myself with an overload of quinoa I decided to toss some, warmed, with each of the three remaining flavors.  Really great!  


I knew I was onto something, so my final masterpiece was a bowl of warm roasted veggies (broccoli, cauliflower, and fennel), baked tofu, and quinoa over fresh arugula, tossed with Terrapin Ridge Farms dressing.  I started with my favorite flavor, the roasted pineapple habanero sauce, but took a turn with all of them to equally fantastic result. I even served some to family who not only loved it, but praised my "cooking."  When you don't have time to marinate or make your own sauces, Terrapin Ridge Farms will not only satisfy, but impress.


I highly recommend these sauces, but I do have one curiosity about the Terrapin Ridge Farms products: although they're clearly marked "vegan" (thank you!), the suggestions for use that are listed on both the website and the bottles are mostly non-vegan.  I realize that this issue isn't singular to Terrapin Ridge Farms, but it's piqued my curiosity.


In contrast, I'm finding that some other companies' vegan products are actively being marketed as "allergen-friendly," "plant-based," or some other confusing euphemism- particularly given that these companies usually have a solely vegan line of products.

Since there is definitely purposeful distancing going on, I really appreciate that Terrapin Ridge Farms is clear with their labeling.  Vegans may be a built-in consumer, but I've walked by many products because I wasn't familiar with them as being vegan and didn't expect them to be; one little V goes a very long way.

21 comments:

  1. I doubt anything wouldn't be good with roasted vegetables (especially fennel!) and quinoa. It's a nice dish you threw together! I can imagine loving the pineapple habanero sauce too.
    As for keeping bottles in the right order/not resorting to signage, maybe you could have spelled out the first letter in a drizzle on the tofu :)

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    1. I could have used alphabet cookie cutters for the tofu!

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  2. All the habanero sauce, please! I have several habanero plants in my garden, your post is giving me ideas on how to use them. (And yes, your post should probably make me want to go out and buy a bottle of this amazing sauce, but really I just want to roast a pineapple and peppers.) (Sorry, Terrapin Ridge Farms.) Can you imagine the pineapple habanero sauce with caramelized plantains? YUM.

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    1. You, my friend, do not take the easy way out.

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  3. When you do a review, you really go all out.

    Look at 89 standing up to check out the test results. Must be good stuff.

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    1. She is nosy, but she has good taste (except for that she won't eat quinoa).

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  4. Habanero here too please. In a pint pot. With a straw. I'm always pleased when non-all-vegan companies think to put a vegan sign on their stuff - makes our life easier and helps all the numpties with the 'just what do you guys eat?' question.

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    1. I totally agree! And I'm getting more than a little perturbed by the "vegan" companies who are eschewing the word.

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  5. Pineapple habanero sounds like a win-win combination — especially with the roasted veggies and quinoa. I wouldn't mind taking compliments for my cooking after cleverly using a bottled sauce to great advantage. People do it all the time with sriracha!

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    1. I should have also mentioned that a little goes a long way, so you can amaze A LOT of your friends!

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  6. Love the test tasting! and kudos to the company for having enough sense to just label the sauces clearly with "vegan". :-)

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  7. Abby Bean! Thank you for sending me to your world via Shen's comments - I have a feeling I will concur with your Cleo Cup vs. Justin's sentiments. And now this wonderful review of sauces! And 89! I am a dog lover, and yours is absolutely adorable. We're going to get along so well... ;)

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  8. Awesome review on these dressings, I've seen them in other blogs! I would love the toasted sesame and ginger one. These vinaigrettes are perfect for marinade!

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    1. That's so funny because they weren't on my radar at all; now I'm stockpiling the pineapple-habanero like it's going out of style.

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  9. the pineapple one was the one that caught my eye the most! your food looks good, makes me want some warm quinoa with veggies

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    1. I know you don't love spicy, but I think you could do this one: not too hot.

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  10. One little V really does go a long way! I'm way more likely to pick up a new product if I don't have to read the label!

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