Cashew Cheese!

So lately I've been hearing a lot about people making dairy-free cheese out of cashews. From the minute I heard about it, I was intrigued. I imagined the process would be long and complicated, but it was super simple! I just HAD to make it.

The whole concept of cashew cheese sounds sorta crazy, but the key is soaking the cashews. That way they blend easier. (Although I did see a recipe where you didn't need to soak them... Hmm.)


Cashew Cheese

Ingredients:

1 1/2 cups raw cashews. (not roasted or salted)
1 cup water
2-3 cloves garlic
1 teaspoon salt
2 tablespoons lemon juice
2 tablespoons nutritional yeast
dash of cayenne pepper

Directions:

Place the raw cashews in a bowl and soak in water for at least 2 hours.
(I soaked mine for 3 hours, but you can soak them overnight or while you're at work.)

Place the cashews and half of the water in a food processor/blender along with all other ingredients. (You can add more water if needed.)

My manual food processor (actually, a food chopper... haha) didn't work and this is how it turned out. Needless to say, I had to switch to a blender.

The blender worked just fine. Much better texture!

And this is the final product!

See how easy??! Just soak cashews and blend everything together. It turned out soooo tasty and has tons of flavor! Some recipes tell you to refrigerate for several hours so it will set and become firmer, but you can eat it just like this. You can do so much with this cashew cheese. Eat it with crackers, as a veggie dip, a spread on a sandwich or wrap, eat it mixed in a salad, or whatever you desire. It's so versatile and yummy.

Yay vegan cheese!

Mac & "Cheese"

So yesterday, I made some pretty incredible vegan macaroni and cheese. I might even say it was better than real macaroni and cheese. My boyfriend showed me this recipe back in December and I fell in love.

Mama Koala's Vegan Mac and "Cheese"

Ingredients:

    1 cup dry whole wheat macaroni noodles
    1 Tbsp vegan margarine or vegan butter (Earth Balance)
    1 Tbsp flour (I used whole wheat flour)
    1/2 cup unsweetened soy milk

    1/4 package (or 2oz.) vegan cream cheese (Tofutti Cream Cheese)
    1/2 cup vegan shredded cheddar cheese (Daiya: cheddar style shreds)

You may want to add more of these ingredients as you go along.

Directions:

1. In a sauce pan, boil elbow macaroni according to package directions.

2. While the macaroni is boiling, in another sauce pan melt margarine and stir in flour.

3. Next, add the milk and stir until thick and smooth.

4. Add the cream cheese and stir until completely melted over medium-high heat.

5. Add shredded cheese and stir until completely melted.

6. Drain the cooked macaroni noodles and stir into the sauce pan with the "cheese".

Makes ~2 servings, depending on how hungry you are!

 Look at this texture!! Mmmm so creamy.

 Finished product!

 I ate it in the leftover Tofutti Cream Cheese container! Haha