Plant based butters

[Jenise]

Today, on a bowl of steamed squash, we're trying Myoko's plant-based butter out of Sonoma. Coconut oil and cashews are the first two ingredients listed. I tasted the coconut before I read the box, and I tasted the butter before I put it on our food. Don't love it but it's not bad, and if I could never eat animal butter again I'd get used to it. Probably more on vegetables than on a baked potato. We currently use Earth Balance spread, which is plant-based, for toast.

Oh my... I would rather have a tiny bit of the real deal than anything else. I grew up skimming the cream from the milk of our cows and then churning in a wooden bucket. Those taste memories are indelible.
I totally endorse plant sources of vitamins, omega 3 fatty acids etc but in fact, the nutrient density of our current commercial foods is sadly deficient compared to the early 20th century. So we compromise in many ways but I err on the side of taste.

[Jenise]

The real deal would never not be my preference, Christina, but I'm exploring plant-based alternatives for other reasons. Earth Balance is great for toast. I almost never make toast, but my husband does for himself almost every morning. He butters the bread before it goes into the toaster oven, so he needs an easy-spreader and likes the flavor of Earth Balance.

Vegan margarine has been around for nearly a century. I suppose this product differs from margarine in that it uses a fat that's naturally solid at room temperature rather than hydrogenating a liquid fat?

-Paul W.