Rosemary, Thyme + Lemon Raw Cashew Cheese

I've been really fascinated by artistic, vegan cheeses for some time now. Fortunately, I failed the first time. That fueled my determination to keep trying. Intentionally, I did not go out and buy the most popular food book on the topic, but instead, collected lots of information and spent the money on good, raw, organic cashews. The result? A darn success! This cheese turned out exactly what I wanted - soft, firm, flavorful, sharp and RAW. I'm now experimenting with other seeds and nuts like sunflower and brazil nut. Recipes to come! I would recommend consuming this with a fine cracker or flatbread. It SLICES. You'll want to take advantage of this as you can also dredge it in breadcrumbs and fry it in a good butter if you want to really go hard. However, I curated this recipe as a raw, confectionary thing that is intended to be consumed cold, as such. But I still love to hear about adaptations on these recipes and certainly anything you think could improve a good thing.

You'll need some thick muslin and|or a thin dish towel or cloth napkin. It drains for a few hours. This is basically a super thick cashew cream, with the whey drained out. Similar to making Panir, a traditional whole milk Indian cheese, this uses the same method by removing the moisture, leaving the curd, which in this case is the cashew pulp, smooth and creamy. I pressed fresh herbs, lemon zest and pink sea salt into the outside when it was done to create a flavorful crust. Recommended!

INGREDIENTS
1 cup raw, organic cashews
1 lemon
fresh herbs such as Rosemary, Thyme, Sage, Oregano or Parsley
coarse pink salt such as Himalayan or Maldon, to taste
1 Tb nutritional yeast
freshly minced garlic
filtered water
cheesecloth, muslin and a thin dish towel
colander

METHOD
Soak the cashews in enough filtered water to cover them by one inch. Do this for a minimum of 4 hours, and up to 24 hours. Strain the soaking water off and rinse the cashews. Put them into a food processor or blender with a pinch of the salt, the nutritional yeast, fresh garlic and the water a tablespoon at a time until it is blended thick, creamy and smooth. You want to use the least amount of water possible but still get a completely smooth slurry. Line the colander with the cheesecloth, muslin and the dish towel. Pour the cashew cream into the middle and fold the ends over. Place this over a bowl that can catch the liquid that will drain from the cashew puree. I put a plate and a bowl on top of the towel to press more liquid out and I think that's a good way to get it really dry. Let this press for 6-12 hours or overnight, and then remove the cheese round to a cutting board. Press in your dried herbs and lemon zest or salt or pepper or jalapeño or anything that sounds good! This will keep about 5 days in the fridge, wrapped in plastic or stored in a storage container. Serve with crackers, crisp breads, on salads or breaded and fried.

ENJOY~!!!

Crispy Flatbread Pizzas

I've been trying to find a good recipe for a quick pizza dough without the rise time when working with yeast. I can be patient, but my kids, not so much. So I came up with a two-in-one solution using my home made tortillas. By rubbing a little olive oil over them, it makes the edges crisp up just like a pizza. I like thin cracker-like crust anyway, so this worked PERFECTLY. With the tortillas already made, this recipe takes 30 minutes or less! I usually spend weekends restocking my pantry with our home made staples like the tortillas, granola, crackers, almond milk etc... so I typically have them on hand most of the time. Everyone got to have exactly what they wanted on their pizza which was a big win. Serve it with a salad and you're done!

 I used my cashew cream as a vegan alfredo and it was delicious. I like to make vegetables the star of my pie so I just loaded on sliced mushrooms, diced zucchini, quartered grape tomatoes and a giant pile of arugula. I drizzled the whole thing with balsamic vinegar and olive oil. Then I crumbled up some chunks of fresh mozzarella. It's really flavorful and you don't have to load up on the heavy shredded stuff. It makes this pizza light and tasty while still getting that bubbly brown on top.

Bake this at 450 for 10 - 12 minutes, rotating it halfway through the cooking time. You can get super creative with toppings and flavor combinations. Experiment and have fun with it. Let your kids make their own by setting out bowls of toppings. They will love that.

Get the recipe for the whole grain tortillas here and the cashew alfredo here.

ENJOY!

Zucchini Noodles with Cashew Cream

This dish just became my new favorite meal. It's about one of the quickest things to make. You can prepare the vegetables and the cream sauce and store separately for about a week or so and make it fresh on the fly in under 30 minutes. This has all of the green and red flavors of summer. I had nearly all of them growing in my garden, except the cashews. As far as vegan, gluten free pastas go, this is a serious WINNER. I served the cashew cream on my son's favorite pasta and he devoured it. And my kids are major macaroni and cheese professionals. Remember my previous post about Summer Pasta Two Ways where I explained my cauliflower alfredo? Pretty sure this sauce has that one beat. The only tool you need other than a chef's knife is a vegetable peeler for the zucchini and a blender for the cream.

INGREDIENTS
2 medium zucchini, the straighter the better
grape or cherry tomatoes
carrot, diced
your choice of bell pepper, julienned
red onion, diced
garlic, minced
fresh parsley and basil
salt + pepper
olive oil

CASHEW CREAM
1 cup raw, organic cashews
1|2 cup water, a little more if needed
1 tablespoon nutritional yeast
1 tablespoon lemon juice
lemon zest
2 cloves garlic
pinch of salt

DIRECTIONS
Using a a vegetable peeler, peel the green skin of the zucchini and discard it. Continue peeling in a circular direction all the way around the zucchini until you reach the seeds. Chop up the heart. Cut the grape tomatoes into halves. Prepare the rest of the vegetables and set aside. Rough chop the herbs. Make the cashew cream using a blender. Start with all of the cashews and part of the water to get it going. Add the rest of the ingredients and slowly the rest of the water until it is smooth and creamy.

Warm the olive oil and start your sautee with the onion, carrot and bell pepper. After about a minute, add the tomato, garlic and zucchini. Season with salt + pepper and herbs. This takes maybe two or three minutes tops. Add in a couple spoonfuls of the cashew cream and stir just long enough to warm everything up. You're done!

Serve this with a raw salad of spinach or your favorite mix of greens and sprouts and some sprouted or gluten free toast.

ENJOY!