Soy Nog

, by Cordelia Hyland, Contributing Writer

I’ll admit it – I have never once had a white Christmas. In Cape Town, the holiday season means barbeques outside in the sunshine, and ice cream at the beach the day after Christmas. But on some level, a white, wintry Christmas just feels right even to me. It could be all those carols my Christmas-crazed housemate and Argus editor-in-chief Katherine has been playing since the day we got back from Thanksgiving break, but even “I’ve Been Dreaming of a White Christmas” loses its appeal after a while. I think the real romance of a white Christmas comes from the toasting. Christmas toasts are all about getting cozy around the fire and celebrating family and friends while cultivating a certain warm and fuzzy feeling inside. It’s a little hard to get that authentic festive feeling when you’re outside in 85-degree weather, raising iced tea glasses. Eggnog really is the only legit option.

So for vegans and the lactose-intolerant, for whom holiday fare is often already a struggle, I present my Christmas gift to you: SOY NOG. Or, as I like to call it, Soy Nom.

This fabulously festive, delectably delightful recipe, adapted from vegparadise.com, requires a blender. It may not be dorm kitchen-friendly, but it’s also super quick and easy, so you can make it at home over break and impress your mom.

Ingredients:

1 blender

1 quart of vanilla soy milk*

1 12 ounce carton soft or firm silken tofu

3/4 cup maple syrup

Yummy ingredients that are not actually that important to quantify:

1/2-1 teaspoon each of ground cinnamon and nutmeg

3/4 teaspoon ground cardamom (What do you call the mother of a Wesleyan student? A carda-mom)

1/2 ground cloves

2&1/2 teaspoons real vanilla extract

3/4 teaspoon rum extract (or a splash of the real thang if you’re over 21)

Throw all that good stuff in the blender and blend for about 1.5 minutes on low. Chill before serving, stick in a fancy pitcher and go forth to impress your relatives (or at least six of them, since that’s how many this recipe serves).

*My two cents about soy products: Obviously, soy is not amazing for the environment and shouldn’t replace meat as your main protein source – grains, beans and legumes are where it’s at guys. But for recipes like this, quinoa ain’t gonna cut it. However, a lot of people assume soy is always the healthy option. In fact, many “natural” soy milk brands, including Silk, process the raw soy with a neurotoxic chemical, hexane – most commonly known as a byproduct of gasoline refining – simply because it is cheaper. So skip the Silk and go for Edensoy or another certified organic brand which uses truly natural processing techniques and U.S. soy beans, keeping it at least semi-local.

  • Cathy Christiansen

    Hi Cordelia, great nog recipe, but as the Community Manager for Silk I wanted to make it very clear that Silk does not use hexane in the production of our soymilk. In addition, we use only non-GMO beans grown in the US. Feel free to shoot me an e-mail if you have any further questions about this.
    Thanks,
    Cathy Christiansen
    cathy.christiansen@whitewave.com

  • Cordelia Hyland

    Hi Cathy,
    This is interesting to hear because based on my research into the issue, Silk Light and Heart Healthy are both processed with Hexane, as well as Silk creamers. As to your comment about Silk using the only non GMO soy beans grown in the US, I believe Edensoy, which received the highest rating for soy milk from the Cornucopia Institute, is both non-GMO certified and only uses organic soy beans grown on US family farms. I have emailed you some other questions to which I will be interested to hear your response,

    Thank you,
    Cordelia Hyland.

  • Cordelia Hyland

    Also, I’m sure these issues would be easily cleared up if Dean Foods, the owner of Silk, would agree to participate in independent studies such as the one recently undertaken by the Cornucopia Institute which other major competitors such as Organic Valley and Wildwood. Denying consumer access to company data about soy sourcing is curious considering the wholly commendable corporate responsibility you allege in the above comment. What could Silk lose from transparency?

    My email is chyland@wesleyan.edu if you would like to continue the conversation.

  • Aviva

    wow way to do some research. curious to hear what she has to say.

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