Bell Pepper Cream Cheeze Dip

Bell Pepper Cream Cheeze Dip
This cream cheeze dip has a wonderful fluffiness; its texture is lighter than cream cheese, but is a bit firmer than a dip. The trick is agar agar. The capsicum - or bell pepper - gives it a fresh flavour that is delightful. Feel free to add more chilli, as when it comes to this sort of hot, I'm a wimp 😀 Serve with savoury biscuits or in a sandwich with fresh greens.
Cuisine: vegan
Recipe type: Dip
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You need
  • 2 cups of soaked raw cashews
  • 2 tbsp of pine nuts
  • 1 small chilli (about 2cm), deseeded and chopped up very finely
  • ½ red capsicum, chopped roughly
  • 3 cloves of garlic, minced or finely grated
  • 1⅛ tsp himalayan rock salt
  • ⅛ tsp black salt (kalak namak)
  • 1 tbsp (white) miso
  • 1 tbsp nutritional yeast
  • ¼ cup rice bran oil
  • 1.5 cups oat milk (or another rather plain non dairy milk)
  • 6 tsp agar agar
To do
  1. blend the soaked cashews and pine nuts in the small bowl of your food processor till nicely mixed and fine
  2. add the capsicum, blend again
  3. then mix in chilli, minced garlic, salt, black salt, miso, nutritional yeast and blend for a few minutes so that it is really well blended and as smooth as possible
  4. meanwhile, in a small sauce pan, add oat milk and oil, and sprinkle agar agar on top
  5. heat and whisk till dissolved
  6. when mixture is getting thick (which happens when it heats up), pour into the nut mixture while the machine is running
  7. as soon as you stop the machine, have plastic containers sitting ready to be filled. This recipe makes about 550ml.
  8. let cool slightly before placing in fridge
  9. let set for 2 hours

 

Soft Rosemary Cream Cheeze

Soft Rosemary Cream Cheeze
This is just delicious - if you like rosemary, of course 🙂 You can actually make this into a firmer cheeze if you let it drain longer/with more weight, whatever you feel like or have time for!
Prepared by:
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You need
  • 2 cups of raw cashews
  • water
  • fresh rosemary sprigs, about 15cm alltogether, leaves only
  • fresh thyme sprigs, about 20cm alltogether, leaves & fine stems only)
  • fresh oregano, about 20cm alltogether, leaves & fine stems only (as these measurements are very variable, it is best to taste and see if you need more)
  • ½ tsp himalyan rock salt
  • a good grind of pepper
  • 3 cloves of garlic
To do
  1. soak your cashews for 4 hours or just overnight
  2. place in blender, and add water to about halfway the nuts and blend into a thick paste, as smooth as possible
  3. transfer paste to a cheese cloth, sitting in a sieve/colander on top of a bowl
  4. fold cloth closed and place weight on top, like a bowl with water or a heavy jar in it
  5. check now and then and if no (more) water is coming out, if not, then make the weight heavier
  6. leave overnight to drain
  7. then all you need to do, is transfer it to the small bowl of your food processor and mix with all the other ingredients - or, if you don't have a food processor, chop all your herbs finely and mix in with a fork
  8. taste! If your sprigs were smaller or had few leaves than mine, you might need to add more, same goes for the garlic.
Notes
Serve with biccies, fresh bread, toast, carrot, cucumber, you get the idea 🙂

 

Cucumber, Pear & Capsicum Salad w Walnuts & Tarragon

Cucumber, Pear & Capsicum Salad w Walnuts & Tarragon
A quick and easy salad, nice for warm days. If you can't get fresh tarragon, replace with dried tarragon. As always, I have Cashew Cream on standby in the fridge, for all sorts of dressings and sauces. Ingredients are enough for 1 main meal or 2 sides.
Prepared by:
Cuisine: vegan, raw
Recipe type: salad
Serves: 1-2
Prep time: 
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You need
  • 120gr cucumber
  • 85gr pear
  • 35gr red capsicum
  • 1 tbsp chopped fresh tarragon
  • about 3 tsbp chopped walnuts (soaked or activated would be great)
  • for the dressing:
  • ¼ cup Cashew Cream
  • zest of 1 small lime
  • 2 tbsp lime juice
  • 1 tsp coconut nectar (or agave or maple)
  • a good grind of pepper
  • salt to taste
To do
  1. cut the cucumber, pear and capsicum in small pieces and mix them together with the tarragon and walnuts
  2. make the dressing by simply mixing all ingredients together, and add salt to taste
  3. mix the whole lot, or you can top with the capsicum and walnuts and a bit of tarragon 🙂
Nutritional Information
Serving size: as main meal Calories: 338 Fat: 22gr Carbohydrates: 26gr Sugar: 15gr Sodium: 38mg Protein: 8gr

 

Cultured Macadamia & Cashew Cheese w Fresh Herbs & Black Salt

Cultured Macadamia & Cashew Cheese w Fresh Herbs & Black Salt
This is a delicious cream cheese, and the great thing is, like with all nut cheeses, that you can tweak flavours exactly as you like. In this recipe, the dill and black salt are fantastic together. It's not complicated at all, but you do need to plan it a little bit. If you don't fancy the taste of black salt, then leave it out and replace with Himalyan rock salt.
Prepared by:
Cuisine: vegan
Recipe type: cheese substitute
Prep time: 
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You need
  • 1 cup unsalted macadamia nuts
  • 1 cup raw cashew nuts
  • contents of 3 probiotic capsules
  • ¾ cup filtered water
  • 2 tbsp finely chopped fresh dill
  • 8 leaves mint, chopped finely
  • 1.5 cloves of garlic (rather small)
  • ¾ tsp black salt
  • 1 tbsp nutritional yeast
  • dried dill and dukkah to roll onto the cheese (I used a sweetish dukkah with rose leaves), or use toasted sesame seeds with any spices you like
To do
  1. soak the nuts overnight
  2. rinse and put them in the blender with the probiotics and water
  3. run till completely smooth
  4. line a sieve with a double cheese cloth, scrape the mixture onto the cloth, fold cloth over the top
  5. place sieve on top of a bowl, and place a weight on top of the cheese as to press the fluids out. (I used first a flat lid, and put a pan with water on top)
  6. when time passes and leaking has stopped, increase weight
  7. let sit for 36 up to 48 hours
  8. then, put the cheese in a bowl and add all other ingredients, or any flavours you like
  9. line a mould or container or bowl with plastic, and press cheese in mould
  10. transfer to fridge for a day to set (overnight is easy)
  11. then roll through the dried herbs & dukkah

 

Black Bean Chocolate & Mint Mousse w Vanilla Cream

Black Bean Chocolate & Mint Mousse w Vanilla Cream
Don't you love it when people are trying to guess the ingredients in a dish and just can't put their finger on it? 😉 Cream made from cashews, mousse made from black beans, raw cacao and raw nectar, it's a lot healthier than the sugar laden, dairy based original chocolate mousse.
Prepared by:
Cuisine: vegan
Recipe type: dessert, snack
Serves: 6
Prep time: 
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You need
  • ½ can of black beans, quickly drained
  • 2.5 tbsp (raw) cacao powder
  • ¼ cup raw agave nectar
  • 5 leaves of mint (or more to taste)
  • ¼ tsp vanilla bean paste
  • a tiny pinch of salt
  • Stevia to sweeten more, optional
For the vanilla cream:
  • ½ cup of Cashew Cream (better if this one is a little thick)
  • 2 tbsp raw coconut or agave nectar
  • 1 tsp vanilla bean paste or natural essence
  • 1 tsp of toasted pine nuts
  • 1 tsp of cocoa nibs (or grated/chopped vegan chocolate)
To do
  1. blend all ingredients for the mousse
  2. to make the vanilla cream; mix the Cashew Cream with the nectar and vanilla
  3. scoop the chocolate mousse in small glasses (or in bigger ones, of course) and layer with vanilla cream
  4. top with cocoa nibs and the pinenuts
  5. and you're done!
Notes
This makes 6 liqueur glasses, just double amounts for more.

 

Spicy Chickpea Eggplant Fritters w Orange Dip

Spicy Chickpea Eggplant Fritters w Orange Dip
I'd say this is comfort food, but apart from the oil the ingredients are all healthy, so I think I can get away with it now and then 😉 I didn't use a deep fryer, just a large pan with a few centimeters of oil. Serve with a salad, or have a few pieces as an entrée.
Prepared by:
Cuisine: vegan
Recipe type: fritters
Serves: 2
Prep time: 
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You need
  • 1 eggplant
  • 1 cup of chickpea flour
  • ½ tsp of black salt
  • ½ tsp chilli powder (or more, of course)
  • 2 tbsp nutritional yeast
  • juice of ½ lemon or lime
  • 1 tsp baking powder
  • about half a cup of water
  • half a cup of Cashew Cream
  • juice and zest of half an orange
  • pepper
To do
  1. heat your oil
  2. sieve the chickpea flour into a bowl
  3. mix in all dry ingredients
  4. stir in lemon or lime juice and then the water bit by bit until you have a nice cream like substance
  5. slice your eggplant in slices of about ¾-1cm and dredge through the batter
  6. deep fry till quite brown, so they're nice and crisp
  7. for the orange dip, just mix Cashew Cream with the pepper, orange zest and half of the juice, adding in more juice as needed for the texture you prefer.

 

Mint & Cauliflower Soup w Orange Cream

Mint & Cauliflower Soup w Orange Cream
The orange and mint in this soup complement each other, the cashews make it nice and creamy. Simple to make but very tasty 🙂
Prepared by:
Cuisine: vegan
Recipe type: soup
Serves: 4-5
Prep time: 
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You need
  • 2 ltrs water
  • 1 head of cauliflower, in florets
  • 3 hands of fresh mint leafs plus an extra 5 leafs per person for topping
  • 2 tbsp of vegetable stock powder (or about 4 cubes)
  • 2 cloves of garlic
  • 1 cup of soaked raw cashew nuts
  • juice & zest of 1 orange, plus a zest for topping
To do
  1. boil the water with the vege stock powder, cauliflower and the mint
  2. while cauliflower is boiling, blend the cashews with the orange juice and zest into a nice smooth cream - dilute a little bit if need be, with water or more orange juice
  3. cook cauliflower till it is soft, then switch heat off and let cool down for a few minutes
  4. add the other 2 hands of mint and the garlic, blend in blender or with stick blender
  5. if you need pour back into pan and just keep warm on stove
  6. pour in bowls, place a few dollops of the orange cream in the middle and top with fresh chopped mint and a little orange zest

 

Raw Onion, Cashew & Sunflower Seed Crackers

Raw Onion, Cashew & Sunflower Seed Crackers
These are great for snacking and to be served with cheeze or dips. Easy to make too. I made them in the dehydrator 🙂
Prepared by:
Cuisine: vegan
Recipe type: crackers
You need
  • 1 cup of soaked sunflower seeds
  • 1 cup of soaked cashews
  • ¼ cup of tamari
  • ½ cup of coconut water (or plain water)
  • 1 large spring onion
  • 1 large garlic clove
To do
  1. blend everything in a power blender
  2. spread out on your dehydrator sheet, quite thin and dehydrate for about 8 hours. The nut layer should be dry to the touch at least, then break off a corner to see if it's dry enough, and if not, let dehydrate longer. It's up to you if you want them dry as crackers, or keep them a little pliable.
Notes
You can score the layer half way, to make tidy breaking easier.

 

Garlic & Thyme Cheeze

Garlic & Thyme Cheeze
It doesn't have to be cheese! Nut cheese may never taste like real cheese - it just isn't that oily - but it looks great, it tastes great, it slices, cubes and it melts! Pretty good! :-),
Prepared by:
Cuisine: vegan
Recipe type: cheeze, vegan alternatives
Prep time: 
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You need
  • 1 cup + 2 tbsp of cashews
  • 3 tsp of garlic powder
  • 3 tsp of onion flakes
  • 1¼ tsp Himalayan rock salt
  • 2 tbsp of fresh thyme leaves (or 1 of dried thyme)
  • 1 tsp turmeric
  • 1 tbsp of nutritional yeast
  • 8 tsp agar agar powder
  • 1 tbsp lemon juice
  • 1 tbsp of miso (preferably light miso)
  • 1¾ cup of non-dairy milk (I used a combination of rice milk and almond milk)
  • ¼ cup of rice bran oil (or other oil you prefer)
To do
  1. grind the nuts in the small bowl of your food processor till fine
  2. add garlic, onion flakes, salt, thyme, turmeric and nutritional yeast
  3. in a small sauce pan, bring the milk with the agar to the boil, making sure all the agar is dissolved
  4. with the machine running, pour the agar mixture into the bowl
  5. add lemon juice, miso and slowly pour oil in
  6. let run till all nice and smooth
  7. pour into plastic or silicon container and place in fridge for about 4 hours
  8. take out of mould and that's it 🙂
Notes
Keep in fridge, it will stay fine for weeks. It melts, so you can use it on pizzas, for toasties, stir it into your pasta dishes, ahh... anything 🙂

 

Vanilla Coconut Cream (raw)

Vanilla Coconut Cream
One of those dishes that puts a smile on my face when I taste it 🙂 You can use this as a dip with fruit, or add it to your dessert or breakfast, or even eat just as is.
Prepared by:
Cuisine: vegan
Recipe type: Dip, dessert, sauce
Prep time: 
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You need
  • ¼ cup coconut milk solids (skim the of the top of a can, if need be, put can in fridge for a couple of hours)
  • ¼ cup Cashew Cream
  • 1 tbsp coconut nectar or raw agave nectar
  • ½ tsp vanilla bean paste
To do
  1. Mix or blend all ingredients till nice and smooth, and that's all 🙂