Vegan Cooking with Beverly Lynn Bennett

Beverly Lynn Bennett is a vegan chef who recently completed her first electronic vegan cookbook, Eat Your Veggies. She's been working in the restaurant industry since she was 12. Please visit VeganChef.com to get some great vegan recipes and to learn more about her.

Question:

I am allergic to soy, dairy, gluten and more! I have been trying to find a soy free, vegan margarine. Do you know of any?

Answer:

Finding a margarine that is completely vegan can be difficult, but finding a brand that is also soy free is even tougher. I personally use Spectrum Spread by Spectrum Naturals because it is non-hydrogenated, but I believe it contains soy isolate so it wouldn't work for you. The two corn-based margarines that I am familiar with are Fleischman's and Mazola. I know that their no salt products are pareve, therefore they should all be vegetable based and contain no dairy products. From what I could find out on the Web, they contain soy lecithin but on the allergies websites they said that this usually isn't a problem for people with soy allergies, but check with your doctor to be certain. Both of these products are available in most grocery stores so I would recommend checking their labels on your next shopping trip to see if they fit your guidelines. FYI, I usually try to use a vegetable based oil instead of margarine when baking since it is cheaper, you often use less in recipes (save on grams of fat in the diet), and since the jury is still out on the health concerns and nutritional aspects of margarine in the human diet. So I suggest using safflower, sunflower or canola oil whenever possible.

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