A Basic Soy and Dairy Free Roux & "Cream of" Soups Substitutions

A lot of recipes will have some sort of white sauce or "cream of" something.  I thought this would pose a challenge to recreate in our new diet.  But, most of those sauces start with the basic roux.  You can do a lot with a bit of flour. This uses whole wheat flour, so it is not "white", but it is still a roux, and you can make several things with it!

Roux or White Sauce

1/3 cup wheat flour
2 tbsps coconut oil
2 cups of UNSWEETENED almond milk (Unless you are making something sweet.)

Melt coconut oil in skillet.  Add flour. It should be the constistency of glue.  Add a little more oil or flour if needed.   When the mixture is hot and bubbly, add 1 cup of almond milk, stir with whisk until smooth, it should start to get thick quickly.  When it is smooth and thick, add 1 more cup of milk. Stir until hot and thick. 

That is the base.

If you want:
Cream of Onion - Saute a finely chopped onion in oil, before adding flour.  Add salt to taste.
Cream of Mushroom - Sauted 1/4 finely chopped onion and 1/2 cup finely chopped mushroom in oil. Salt to taste
Cream of Chicken - Make as directed, except use 1 cup of homemade chicken stock in place of the 1st cup of Almond milk, then follow as directed. Salt to taste.
Cream of Celery - Saute 1 cup of finely chopped celery in oil, before adding flour.  Add salt to taste.

If you want white gravy for country fried steak, biscuits or the like, just add salt and pepper to the base until it is yummy.