So dairy seems to be the hardest thing for people to ‘give up’ when they want to eat a plant based, vegan diet. Cheese is undoubtedly addictive, even I will admit that as a vegetarian in my early teens I ate so much cheese, before I understood how bad it is for our bodies and for the environment, and especially for the cows it comes from.
When I transitioned to a vegan diet I cut cheese out completely, no vegan substitutes for me, as I find soy quite hard to digest and have never really been a fan of replacing meat/fish with soy protein. I struggled to think of ideas for sandwich fillers, and definitely missed having toasties!
Being a chef now, it’s so much easier for me to create recipes, or even modify recipes to fit my taste and satisfy my cravings. Vegan cheese can be awful, tasteless stuff. I promise you this is not, so creamy and delicious and you can modify it to your own preference.
This recipe made one ‘block’
Ingredients
75g raw cashew nuts/ blanched almonds/macadamias (not the salted kind) I didn’t soak mine so they were still a bit textured, I’d recommend soaking them overnight for smooth cheese
3tbs oats- ground to a very fine powder in a processor or use ground almonds if you prefer
1 tbs fresh lemon juice
2/3 tbs of oil of choice- olive/ rapeseed works best, coconut tastes a bit too strong
3/4tbs of agar agar flakes
2tbs miso paste of choice (rice miso if you want soy free cheese)
1/4 vegetable stock cube crumbled
375ml unsweetened dairy free mylk of choice – I used rice milk, if you like soy use it for a creamier cheese
All these spices can be modified to suit your taste;
1/2 cup of nutritional yeast- roughly 8g (it’s very light)
1/4 tsp sea salt
1/4 tsp white pepper
1/4 tsp smoked paprika
1/4 tsp garlic powder
Equipment
Food processor
High speed blender
Saucepan
Silicone spatula
Tupperware container or ceramic dish of choice, whatever shape you want to mold your cheese into
Method
Blitz the oats/ almond meal to a very fine powder first
Then add all of the ingredients except the agar agar flakes to a high speed blender and mix until smooth
Pour the mix into the saucepan, add the agar flakes, bring the mix to the boil on a high heat, stirring to prevent the edges sticking and to fully dissolve the agar flakes into the mix.
Once boiling lower down to a simmer, and stir continuously for 5-8 minutes until the mixture thickens to a consistency like this-
Once thickened pour into your mold quickly (it will begin to set once off the heat)
Smooth out, and place into the fridge for 1-2 hours to fully set, or overnight if you have time!
Tip out onto a plate, serve with crackers, compote and grapes… Enjoy.. 😉
