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: 
Cook/wait time: 
Total time: 
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

 

Garlic & Chives Almond Cheeze

Garlic & Chives Almond Cheeze
This cheeze is fantastic with fruit, especially when you let it ripen for a bit and let the tartness of the culture come through. Stuff lychees with this cheeze and top with a small piece of olive, mmmmm….. Recipe makes about 200grams
Prepared by:
Cuisine: vegan, vegan 101
Recipe type: cheese
Prep time: 
Cook/wait time: 
Total time: 
You need
  • 1.5 cup peeled almonds (blanched almonds come peeled already, raw ones don't)
  • 3 capsules of probiotics
  • ½ tbsp nutritional yeast
  • ½ tbsp raw coconut nectar (or agave, or maple)
  • 20 grams chopped chives
  • 4 smallish cloves of garlic
  • pepper, a good grind
  • Himalayan rock salt, about ¼ tsp, or more to taste
  • 1 tbsp of lemon juice
  • poppy seeds, about ¾ tbsp
  • water
To do
  1. soak the nuts for a few hours till plump (if they are raw, soak overnight and then rinse and peel)
  2. rinse and put in your blender, with about ½ cup of water to start with
  3. add contents of the probiotic capsules
  4. run machine till you have a nice smooth paste. Do add water if needed, but not more than strictly necessary to obtain a homogenous paste
  5. scoop nut paste into a folded nut bag (or use 2 bags) and place in sieve or colander, on top of a bowl
  6. now place weight on top. I put a small plate on it first, and then a pan with water; you want the fluid to be pressed out, but not so hard that the cheeze pushes through the cloth
  7. let sit for up to 72 hours. Criteria: taste and texture that you like.
  8. increase weight now and then, especially if you want to go for more solid cheese. Creamier cheeze needs more moisture.
  9. when the texture is to your liking, mix with all the other ingredients (hold on to the lemon juice if you want a creamier cheeze, until you've mixed the lot and then add if it can handle the extra fluids)
  10. place a piece of plastic wrap in a bowl, scoop the cheeze in it, press down nicely and place in fridge
  11. when firm, take out of plastic and sprinkle with poppy seeds
  12. keep in fridge

 

Garlic & Chives Almond Cheeze

Garlic & Chives Almond Cheeze

Tahini Tofu Terrine

Tahini Tofu Terrine
Gently flavoured and with a nice texture almost as Boursin cheese, this is great to have as a nibble, or make a sandwich with it. This recipe makes 2 smaller terrines, so divide in 2 if you only want 1.
Prepared by:
Cuisine: vegan
Recipe type: snack, sandwich filling
Prep time: 
Total time: 
You need
  • 1 block of organic firm tofu (300gr)
  • 1 tbsp nutritional yeast
  • 1 tbsp vegetable stock powder
  • ¼ tsp black salt
  • 1 tbsp tahini
  • 1 clove of garlic, minced (or more, taste as you go)
  • ½ cup almond milk
  • ½ cup water
  • 8 tsp agar agar powder
To do
  1. in your food processor, blend the tofu, yeast, stock powder, salt, tahini and garlic
  2. while blending, pour in oil
  3. taste! At this point you can easily tweak flavours. Add herbs or spices, salt, pepper to taste
  4. pour the milk and water into a small sauce pan, and add agar agar powder
  5. (have your plastic or silicon containers ready for the next step)
  6. heat liquid, and as soon as you see it thicken, add to the tofu mixture to the running machine
  7. blend well and pour in containers
  8. gently drop the containers on your bench top to make the mixture fill them up neatly
  9. place in fridge and give a few hours to solidify nicely, then pop out of mould
Notes
Eat on toast or with crackers, or use in salads.

 

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: 
Total time: 
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

 

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: 
Total time: 
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: 
Total time: 
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.

Kale & Red Cabbage Parcels w Pine nuts

Kale & red Cabbage Parcels w Pine nuts

Kale & red Cabbage Parcels w Pine nuts

 

Nothing complicated, but they look very nice and taste lovely 🙂

You need (for 6-7 parcels):
•  6 stalks of kale
•  about 2.5 cm of a red cabbage
•  2-3 cloves of garlic, chopped or minced
•  a hand of pine nuts
•  salt & pepper
•  1/2 tsp curry powder (or more if you want a more obvious curry flavour)
•  coconut oil (I used deodorized oil this time) or other oil
•  6 or 7 sheets of filo pastry
•  sprinkles of poppy seeds
•  I used a bit of my Coriander & Macadamia Terrine, but you can use fresh coriander in stead, about half a cup.
•  a tbsp of Cashew Cream  per parcel – optional
•  a sprinkle of nutritional yeast per parcel – optional

You do:
– preheat oven to about 200C
– pull the leafy bits of the stem of the kale
– chop kale and cabbage quite finely
– heat oil in skillet
– add garlic, stir, don’t let brown too much
– add kale and cabbage, stir
– toss in pine nuts, salt & pepper, curry powder
– stir and let veggies shrink a little till slightly compacted
– fold a sheet of pastry, brush/spray w oil, fold again, brush again lightly
– add a large spoon of veggie mixture
– optional: place a spoon of Cashew Cream on top, with a sprinkle of nutritional yeast – the Cashew cream will keep it moist
– roughly arrange sides of pastry over the top, as you like. Brush/spray with oil
– sprinkle with poppy seeds
– place on rack in oven tray and bake in oven till nice and brown. If you don’t use a rack, the bottom of the parcels may become a bit too moist and thus not crispy.