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
Prep time: 
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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

 

Home made Bread w Mushrooms & Chickpea Sauce

Home made Bread w Mushrooms & Chickpea Sauce
Hubbie is well and truly allergic to mushrooms, so I usually have them for breakfast or lunch; they are easy and quick to prepare and even just a piece of toast will do just fine with them 🙂
Prepared by:
Cuisine: vegan
Recipe type: lunch, light meal
Serves: 1
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You need
  • 1 slice of bread (to bake your own, have a look here)
  • 4 mushrooms
  • a dash of oil for cooking
  • a few fresh basil leafs
To make the sauce (I make more and keep it in fridge for other dishes)
  • 1 can of chickpeas
  • 1 heaped tbsp of miso
  • ⅓ cup of oil
  • 1 tsp of Himalayan rock salt
  • 1 clove of garlic, minced (I always use the microplane for garlic)
  • non dairy milk to dilute as much as you like
To do
  1. blend all ingredients except for the milk in your blender or food processor
  2. (let sit overnight if you like, it will make it slightly tangy)
  3. dilute with milk to consistency you like (handy is to dilute only what you need, so you can keep the rest for a dip or spread on toast)
  4. then slice your mushrooms, bake in a bit of oil. I wouldn't add water as your bread will go soggy then.
  5. place mushrooms on bread (toasted, if you like), top with sauce and scatter basil leafs on top
  6. Voilá!

 

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 🙂

 

Vegan Cheeze w Truffle Oil & Chives

Vegan Cheeze w Truffle Oil & Chives
'Cheeze'!! It's not that I miss it so much, but it just is a change from dips, it gives you something to slice 🙂 Also, non-vegans really like it too. And if you don't like the taste of truffle oil, leave it out all together.
Prepared by:
Cuisine: Vegan
Recipe type: Vegan alternatives
Prep time: 
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You need
  • ½ cup raw cashews
  • 2 tbsp of pine nuts
  • ¼ cup nutritional yeast
  • 1 teaspoon onion powder
  • 1 teaspoon Himalayan rock salt
  • ½ teaspoon garlic powder
  • 1+3/4 cups oat milk (or other non dairy milk)
  • ½ cup agar flakes (or ¼ cup agar powder)
  • ¼ cup rice bran oil
  • 2 tbsp yellow or white miso
  • 1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
  • 1 teaspoons white truffle oil (more or less to taste)
  • chopped chives
To do
  1. lightly oil 3-4 small ramekins, or use plastic containers (they don't need oiling)
  2. finely grind the cashews in a food processor
  3. add the nutritional yeast, onion powder, salt and garlic powder, quickly blend
  4. combine the soy milk, agar, and oil in a saucepan
  5. bring to a simmer over high heat, then decrease the heat to medium-low heat
  6. cover and simmer until the agar is dissolved (this will only take a few minutes)
  7. with the food processor running, gradually pour the milk mixture into the cashew mixture, blend for 2 minutes, or until the mixture is very smooth and creamy
  8. blend in the miso, lemon juice and chopped chives, and then half of the truffle oil. Taste and add more truffle oil (as much as you want)
  9. transfer the cheeze to a container; cover and refrigerate until it is very firm, about 4 hours. Once it is firm, use a knife to gently remove the cheeze from the ramekin, or wriggle plastic container.
Notes
For a quick sauce, melt the cheeze and add non dairy milk to dilute if needed.

Leftover Veggie Pasta Soup

Leftover Veggie Pasta Soup
Soup can be a piece of art, or it can be a practical way to get rid of left over dishes and veggies that would otherwise give up the ghost soon. I had left over pasta bake and made it into a soup. There was tofu in the pasta bake, but the soup doesn't need it, so it's optional (about half a block, crumbed) 🙂
Prepared by:
Cuisine: vegan
Recipe type: soup
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You need
  • your left over pasta bake!
  • (This was in mine::
  • a cup of Orzo (or other pasta)
  • 3 leafs of curly kale or a bit more, finely chopped
  • 2 large Shiitaki muhrooms, sliced or chopped
  • ½ capsicum, chopped
  • 2 tsp minced garlic
  • few sprigs of fresh Rosemary or ½ tbsp dried Rosemary)
  • 1 tbsp white Miso
  • 1 tbsp of veggie stock powder
  • salt to taste
  • pepper to taste
  • any veggies you have left over
To do
  1. boil the water with the stock powder and Miso
  2. add your leftover bake, stir and let it simmer for a while.
  3. serve!