GF Vegan Saffron Hollandaise With Asparagus

I stumbled across this sauce somewhat by accident as I was looking for recipe inspirations, but all the vegan Hollandaise recipes were just so difficult to make with so many ingredients. I know my mom used to make Hollandaise sauce and the original recipe is much more simple than any of the vegan versions I came across, so I thought I'd give it a try and make the sauce as simple as possible. I was inspired to combine saffron, coconut milk, garlic, and salt. What resulted was better than I could have imagined—a creamy, buttery, gluten-free sauce that reminded me a lot of the Hollandaise I ate when I was a kid. The full-fat coconut milk lends a lot of richness to the sauce (please, don’t use the light coconut milk—it won’t have nearly the same flavor!).

GF Vegan Saffron Hollandaise With Asparagus

Recipe Type: Breakfast

YIELDS 10 servings

PREP TIME 05 min

COOK TIME 15 min

TOTAL TIME 20 min

2 cloves garlic, minced
2 & 1/2 tbsp cornstarch
3/4 cup coconut milk (full fat, unsweetened, canned)
one pinch saffron threads
2 tbsp water (for soaking saffron)
1/4 cup unsweetened soy milk
1 tbsp white wine vinegar
to taste salt, cayenne pepper
2 tbsp margarine or vegan butter
few drops lemon juice
one handful asparagus
2 tbsp olive oil
1 pinch basil
1 pinch thyme

Directions

1. Have all your ingredients assembled before you begin, so you can work quickly to ensure a smooth, even sauce. Crush the saffron threads in a mortar or use powdered. Pour 2 tbsp water over the saffron threads to let them soak for 5 minutes. This opens up the flavor of the saffron.

2. In a small saucepan, melt the margarine over medium heat. Quickly sauté minced garlic till fragrant, then whisk in corn starch. Continue whisking till smooth. Don’t let the cornstarch cook very long.

3. Slowly whisk in the coconut milk, then add the soy milk.

4. Whisk in the white wine vinegar, lemon juice, salt, cayenne and saffron threads and water. Heat the sauce over medium, whisking frequently, until it bubbles around the edges and thickens. Reduce heat to low and keep warm. Stir in additional salt, lemon juice or cayenne to taste, if desired.

5. While you’re preparing the sauce, heat up the olive oil in a pan, add the herbs, and when they are fragrant, add the asparagus to the pan as well and sauté them slowly over low heat. Occasionally stir it, so it doesn’t get burned.

6. Serve warm sauce over asparagus.

This also goes well with steamed artichokes and would make a wonderful tofu benedict. Keep in mind that like any thick sauce, if left to cool it will develop a skin on the surface. Be sure to warm it up and whisk it to break up any skin on the surface before serving.

Also by Imola: Ayurvedic Green Curry

Vegan West African Peanut Soup

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Photo: Imola Toth