Almost Mayo Sauce

Not being able to use mayonnaise or most kinds of dairy in a creamy sauce is a major setback for a cook. The only options at my disposal are yogurt and eggs. Yogurt might work with the beet and potato salad, but it is no substitute for mayo.

Mayonnaise gets its characteristic flavor from eggs. For the novice, properly emulsifying the eggs and oil can get tricky -- batches of mayo have been ruined this way. One clever alternative I stumbled across in The Australian Women's Weekly "New Salads" cookbook uses hard-boiled eggs (not raw) to start a mayo-like dressing. This turns out to be a much more forgiving alternative. Their recipe for "Creamy Oregano and Caper" dressing involved a couple of other ingredients that were not suitable for the restricted diet I spoke about earlier, so here is my simplified version. [AP: this is a Neutral recipe. You can add fresh or dried herbs to it, but that can change the food category.]

Almost Mayo Sauce

2 hard-boiled eggs
2 Tbsp lemon juice (less if you don't like it too tart)
1 clove garlic
1/3 cup olive oil

1. Blend the eggs, lemon juice and garlic together.
2. With the blender still going, pour in the oil in a thin, steady stream until the sauce reaches a creamy consistency. Don't go beyond that point because your sauce may start to separate and break down.