Vegan-shmegan. If you are dairy free, but not a vegan, you have the option for the buttery goodness you might miss.
This is a PSA about: GHEE!
Ghee is ultra-clarified butter. Not your regular ol' Lobster butter, which is made by skimming the top of the butter as it cooks slightly. Ghee is cooked until all of the water is out of the butter, and all of the milk solids are removed completely.
Famously the base oil of Indian cooking. If you have ever tried to replicate Indian food and it was not quite right? YOU WERE MISSING THE GHEE. Not to brag...but I eat a LOT of ghee. I use it to cook my eggs, spread on toast, saute my veggies, add to oatmeal, make bullet-proof coffee and obviously, fry bananas (duh. If you have not done this. PLEASE do this). Ghee does not need refrigeration, improves digestion, helps to stabilize the nervous system and has a super high cooking temp, so it won't burn like butter.
Organic ghee, while pricey, is a must, unless you know the farmers personally. Pesticides, antibiotics and other additives will concentrate in the fat of the milk. Ghee is pure milk fat. The butter must be pure to get the positive health effects. According to Ayurvedic principles (traditional Indian Medicine) the butter you make your ghee from should be cultured, cooked over flame and from grazed cows. To have all these things in a ghee is rare, so only a few premium brands will work: Ahara Rasa Ghee this one is organic, grassfed and cultured, Pure Indian foods has a cultured version, but not all their ghee is cultured and Tin Star has a cultured version as well.
Last, ghee is a go to for nearly all the health based diets around: Paleo diet, Ketogenic, Whole30, GAPS, FODMAP and more. So next time you are at the store, skip the refrigerator and look in the international or oils isle for organic, cultured, grass-fed ghee. Do everything with it. It can even soothe a baby's red bottom or sooth dry eyes. It is the most useful cooking oil or spread to keep in your kitchen.
Repeat after me: Canola, Corn and margarine be gone: be OLIVE, COCONUT AND GHEE STRONG!
