Homemade Almond Milk
3
- Makes2 cups
(Photography: Erik Putz, Prop styling: Madeleine Johari, Food styling: Ashley Denton)
Sourcing organic where possible is important to Emma Knight, co-founder of Greenhouse Juice Co., which sells its organic beverages in grocery stores across Canada. “Conventional crops are sprayed with pesticides and herbicides that end up in the drink, and organic crops are better for the health of the soil,” she says. Aside from almond milk, her family also makes their own oat milk, which she recommends, as Canada is a large agricultural producer of oats, and as a crop they require less water than almonds.—Ria ElciarioI
Ingredients
3 cups filtered water, divided
2 cups raw almonds
4 Medjool dates, pitted and chopped
1 tsp pure vanilla extract, or 1 vanilla bean, halved lengthwise, seeds scraped out and set aside
1 tbsp coconut oil, optional
Pinch sea salt, optional
Instructions
In a blender, combine 1 cup water, almonds, dates, vanilla, coconut oil and salt. Blend on low until combined.
Add remaining 2 cups water and then blend for another minute or until smooth.
To strain, place a large fine-mesh strainer lined with 2 layers of cheesecloth over a large bowl, making sure there’s enough cloth hanging over the edges that you can gather the ends and create a pouch.
Pour half of the blended mixture into the centre of the cheesecloth, and then gather the ends to create a pouch. Squeeze the almond milk through the strainer and into the bowl.
Empty the remaining fibre (you can save it to make protein bars) into another container, then repeat the process with remaining mixture.
Serve chilled, or seal in an airtight bottle or jar and keep in the refrigerator for up to 3 days.
More recipes for making your own plant-based milks at home.
Recipe excerpted from the Greenhouse Cookbook by Emma Knight with Hana James, Deeva Green and Lee Reitelman. Copyright © 2017 by Greenhouse Juice Company. Published by Penguin, a division of Penguin Random House Canada Limited. Reproduced by arrangement with the publisher. All rights reserved.
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