Tag Archives: cashew cheeze

Creamy Broccoli Cheese Soup, Take 2

Posted on February 2, 2013 | Leave a comment

I made my recipe for Creamy Broccoli Cheese Soup last night, but with fresh potatoes. Heres roughly how it went:

4 small broccoli crowns, chopped into small pieces

8 small russet potatoes, diced

2 cups carrots, cut into tiny pieces

1/2 yellow onion, minced

3 cloves garlic, minced

1 cup cashews, soaked in hot water for at least an hour

1 1/2 cup nutritional yeast flakes

1 tbsp stone ground mustard

2-6 c vegetable stock

olive oil

This made a huge pot of soup as I plan on eating it for a few days (and I eat huge bowls of soup), so feel free to halve the recipe to get roughly 4 servings. If you’re not feeling cheesy, this soup was tasting fantastic before I added the ‘nooch’ in! If going cheese-less, add in some fresh chives and scallions and don’t skip the mustard!

Start by sautéing your onion in olive oil in a large, heavy bottomed pot over medium high heat. Once soft and beginning to brown, add in the potatoes, carrots, and garlic. Sauté until fragrant, and add in 2 cups of your vegetable stock. Cover, and simmer until the potatoes are tender and mash easily with the back of a spoon. While the potatoes cook, blanch your broccoli in boiling water for 2 minutes, or until tender, and then immediately shock in ice water. This will keep the broccoli from turning a funky color when put in the soup. Next, drain the cashews and puree them in a food processor or high speed blender until smooth, adding as little water as necessary. Using an immersion blender if you have one, puree the potatoes and carrots until completely smooth and creamy. If needed add a little more stock to help blend. Fold the cashew cream into the potatoes, and add enough stock to suit your texture preference. The soup should remain thick. Stir in the nutritional yeast and mustard, and season with salt and pepper to taste. Bring the soup to a low boil and add broccoli. Cook stirring occasionally, until the broccoli is hot.

IMG_5930

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Todays Lunch: Brunch!

Posted on February 29, 2012 | 1 Comment

the hubby and i needed a speedy dinner last night- and we had some veggies that needed to get used up as well, so we made a super tasty tofu scramble with cheesy sauce, home fries, and tons of veggies! when i need crispy potatoes in a pinch i cube them small, about 1” pieces, and nuke them for about 7 minutes -covered,  before tossing them in a little oil, salt and pepper and roasting them in the oven at 425. i start those first, get my tofu and veggies prepped and make my cheesy sauce last. the only thing i forgot was a generous splashing of my favorite hot sauce, tapatio!

tofu scramble with cheezy sauce!

*you’re not crazy, that is in fact a giant monster rabbit eating people on my arm. tee hee hee 

 

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Nacho Lovers, Unite!

Posted on February 6, 2012 | 1 Comment

i didn’t watch the Super Bowl, or the puppy bowl for that matter, but for some reason i had a hankering for salty tortilla chips dunked in neon orange goo with a side of salsa. the hubby is back home again, and he too had a craving for bar food, but instead of plunking down $30+ bucks for a few rounds and some so-so vegan nachos at a local bar, we made our own! *i’m also still trying to ride the Gluten-free train as much as possible, and vegan nachos at the bar usually involve wheat flour in the nooch sauce, so making my own also saved me from a few days of achy joints! yay! i think this is my best version of cheesy sauce yet, and i’ll give you a few GF options to tweak it! (just for you, clairedo!) chickpea flour thickens this like a dream, and it doesn’t get gelatinous when it cools, so you don’t need to resort to trickery when you want to reheat it.

Basic Gluten Free Cheezy Sauce

2 cups Unsweetened Almond Milk

1 heaping tbs raw cashew butter

1 tbs miso paste- white

1/4 tsp sea salt *or more if you really like salt or won’t be dumping this on salted chips

1 tsp onion powder

1/4 tsp garlic powder

1/4 tsp smoked paprika

1/4 tsp turmeric

1 c nutritional yeast flakes, aka nooch

1/2 tsp apple cider vinegar, this adds a little “tang”

3 tbs garbanzo bean flour, also called besan, gram, or chana dal flour at indian grocers

3 tbs water

this is super duper easy:

melt the cashew butter over low heat in a heavy bottomed saucepan. whisk in everything else except for the water and the chickpea flour and increase the heat to medium high.  slowly whisk the water into the chickpea flour, and stir until completely smooth. add some of the hot sauce into the chickpea flour to help warm it, (much like tempering eggs if you’re familiar) whisking until smooth. now, slowly whisk the chickpea mixture into your sauce and keep stirring until thick and smooth. enjoy as is, or follow some options for tinkering!

10 am nacho fix!

for nacho/queso cheese:

add 1/4 tsp chipotle pepper powder, and up to 1 c of your favorite salsa. you may need an extra tablespoon of chickpea flour if your salsa is runny.  you can also fold in a cup of daiya pepperjack or cheddar if you want the consistency of stadium/pump cheese, but after experimenting, i don’t notice a big difference in flavor to make it worth a 5$ bag of cheese.

for mac and cheese:

double the sauce recipe and use regular paprika instead of smoked. add a pinch of ground nutmeg. fold into one pound of  al dente quinoa or brown rice noodles (or regular if you tolerate gluten). then, fold in up to an entire bag of daiya if you really, really want to go overboard on the cheesiness factor. i sometimes like a small sprinkle on top, but i won’t judge ;) spoon into a lightly oiled casserole, cover, and bake for 30 minutes, or until bubbly.

bechamel style- great as a fondue dip:

skip turmeric, omit 1/2 of the nutritional yeast. add a pinch of nutmeg and an extra tsp of onion powder. serve with blanched vegetables, cubes of bread-regular or gluten free, olives, and wine.

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Crazy For Cashews

Posted on February 2, 2012 | 1 Comment

oh cashews, how do i love thee? let me count the ways…

cashews kick ass, and lately i can’t seem to get enough of their creamy, protein packed flavor. it all started when the vegetarian times had a recipe for cashew goat cheese.  i can bring it anywhere, re-named as ‘savory cashew spread’ and it’s devoured almost instantly. then i discovered dr. cow’s tree nut cheeses; aged for 3 months, these cheeses develop the same sharp tang as traditional cheese, making them an insanely delicious pairing with crackers and wine. i’ve always wanted to re-create them, but aging? that seems a bit too complex for my decidedly amateur cooking skills. then, i found chef tal ronnen, his book ‘the conscious cook’, and his amazing recipe for cultured cashew, and macadamia nut cheeses. it’s similar in concept to the vegetarian time’s cashew cheese; you soak raw cashews and cream them, but before flavoring and setting the cashew cream, you culture it with store-bought probiotic powder -1 tsp per 2c cashews- for 16 hours, and then let it set up in the fridge. the result is incredibly reminiscent of cream cheese; tangy, velvety, and with a hint of sweetness. i’ve been making, and devouring his recipe weekly. it’s my favorite snack with slices of apple, cucumber, and gluten free flax crackers.

i’ve also been tinkering with using it as a base for faux-ranch dressing.

cashew ranch

next, i want to try making raw cashew cheesecake. i love the version they make at the ecopolitan, but i think culturing the cashews will add the backbone that it’s been missing!

raw cheesecake

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More Porn!

Posted on January 27, 2012 | Leave a comment

i guess there were more food pictures on my camera! enjoy!

stew!

delicata squash, kale, carrots, chickpeas, and leeks floating in a lightly seasoned broth

TLAT Salad!

TLAT salad, but with kale and smoky eggplant strips instead of lettuce and tempeh bacon. on the side are GF flax crackers with raw cashew cheese

4-part epic!?

tarragon and balsamic grilled portobello cap, roasted mashed sweet potatoes, grilled peppers and string beans. i marinated the portobellos in a mixture of balsamic vinegar, braggs, dijon mustard, and tarragon. i reduced the marinade with white wine to make a simple pan sauce.

 

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birthday porn!

Posted on January 16, 2012 | 1 Comment

ahem, food porn.

cold bustin' juice

i had an awful cold so the hubby made me some super C juice to kickstart my birthday last week. we used 1 giant ruby red grapefruit, a lime, and a helluva lotta oranges. so, so good!

birthday brunch!

‘fronch toast’ vegan with a vengeance style, smoky ‘facon’, and broiled tater tots!

vegan stuffed shells

shells stuffed with cashew ricotta and daiya.

sexy close up

i didn;t write it all down, but heres roughly what i used:

1/2 c raw cashews, soaked overnight in water, drained

10oz extra firm tofu

2tbs nutritional yeast

juice of 1/2 a lemon

salt and pepper, dash each of onion and garlic powder

puree all of them until almost completely smooth, then fold in 1/2 bag of daiya. this filled 24 pasta shells.

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….When i dip, you dip, we dip!

Posted on January 3, 2012 | Leave a comment

i hope everyone had a wonderful new years eve, i know i did! i had a dip and drinks party with a few of my BFF’s, and (bonus!) was able to re-purpose leftover dip into some killer mini pizzas- hopefully my guests weren’t double dipping!

i made four savory cracker spreads- cashew goat cheese, kalamata tapenade, thick walnut pesto, and garlicky sun-dried tomato. all came together with minimal effort, and paired well with each other for an itallian inspired theme. i made a few extra items for extra substance when i converted them all into pizza toppings the next day, so keep in mind that you don’t have to go to all the trouble to make all of these- but if you do, your taste buds will be greatly rewarded!

pretty dips and whatnot on a pretty vintage plate!

i got the cashew goat cheese recipe from vegetarian times. i doubled the recipe, added 1 tbs each miso and nutritional yeast, and skipped the cheesecloth. i spread my cheese into a shallow casserole and baked @200 for 45 minutes to firm it up.

Kalamata Tapenade

1 c kalamata olives

1/4 c olive oil, or less

2 large cloves garlic

2 tbs red wine vinegar

combine all ingredients in a food processor and pulse into a smooth, grainy paste. taste for salt.

Sun-Dried Garlicky Tomato

1 c dried tomatoes- not oil packed

1-2 chopped roma tomatoes

6 cloves garlic

1 tbs olive oil

1 tbs fresh basil

1/2 tsp or less salt.

place the tomatoes into a glass dish, add enough boiling water to cover and steep for 15 minutes. drain the tomatoes and reserve the liquid, and place all other ingredients into the bowl of your food processor, except for the fresh tomatoes. puree until smooth using as much of the soaking liquid as needed to achieve a smooth consistency. fold in the fresh tomatoes and serve.

Thick Walnut Pesto

4 c loose basil

2 tbs nutritional yeast

3 cloves garlic

1/3 c toasted walnuts

olive oil

1/2 tsp salt, or less

pulse together the basil, walnuts and garlic. stream in enough oil to make a thick, but creamy pesto. add salt to taste. cover in a thin layer of oil before storing.

for the pizza, i preheated my oven to 350 with a cast iron pan on the bottom rack, and a cast iron griddle on the top rack. i also grabbed 1 1/2 sweet onions, like vidallia, and one medium eggplant. i thinly sliced the onion and placed it along with 1 1/2 tbs earth balance in the cast iron skillet, and i covered the pan with a tempered glass lid. with the eggplant, i peeled it, halved it, and cut it into 1/2″ thick moons. i smeared some earth balance on the griddle, laid out the eggplant slices, and sprinkled them liberally with smoked sea salt, and black pepper.  i turned the eggplant after roughly 20 minutes, and cooked them for a total of 40 minutes- long enough to brown them and almost ‘dehydrate’ them a little, but they were by no means soggy at all. i also tend to pick the skinniest eggplants with tight shiny skin, i hear it helps the texture.  i let the onions simmer until soft and golden, about 60 minutes, and then uncovered them to let them turn deep brown. they dont need much attention, so feel free to start the dough while they cook. i also thinned the sun-dried tomatoes with a little white wine to achieve a ‘sauce’.

smoky eggplant slices

to assemble the pizza, i started with one ball of dough (sans pepper flakes), my leftover dips, the roasted veggies, and some scraps of bell pepper and seitan that were hanging in the fridge. i cranked the oven to 450, and kept the griddle on the top rack, and swapped the skillet for a pizza stone. i rolled the dough into 4 individual pizzas, and par baked them for 2 minutes. i removed the dough to my counter, poked the air bubbles, flipped them over and topped them in this order:

cashew cheese

sun dried tomato ‘sauce’

caramelized onion

eggplant and seitan slices

teaspoon sized blobs of tapenade and pesto.

i returned them to the oven and baked for another 12 minutes- just until the crust was deep golden brown along the edges.

dippity do-dah pizza! smoky, toasty, deliciousness.

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Creamy Broccoli Soup

Posted on December 28, 2011 | 1 Comment

i can’t remember the last time i had broccoli cheese/cheeze soup, but i had something of a fierce craving come over me tonight. maybe it was because i felt it would be a ‘lazy’ meal to prepare, or maybe the holidays left me craving something green, yet comforting? either way, tonight i crafted an incredibly creamy, savory soup worthy of a second bowl- and i used up some christmas leftovers, too! whoo hoo! i had a container of leftover ‘au gratin’potatoes that i creamed, so you’ll have to tinker with the amount of potato you use. i’m also a big, big fan of broccoli, so i left huge chunks of florets floating amidst the creamy cashew-y goodness, but feel free to puree all the way for a ‘just like mom used to make’ finish. i also keep my seasonings to a minimum because i don’t want to overpower the flavor of the broccoli, but by all means, add some garlic, bell pepper, celery, carrot, ect with the onions; if you’re ambitious and want an extra flavorful, golden base to the soup, add a carrot and some yellow or orange bell pepper with the onions, and then puree that before you add the stock/broccoli in. instant liquid gold!

Creamy Cheezy Broccoli Soup

serves 6-8

2 large crowns broccoli, roughly chopped into 1/2 inch pieces. peel and chop the stems, too

1 small yellow onion, minced

1 c raw cashews, covered in 1 c boiling water or soaked overnight

1 c nutritional yeast

2 c almond milk, plus more if needed

2 c light vegetable stock

about 3 cups of cooked potato- baked, steamed, casseroled ect. maybe skip fried ones, the texture and flavor would be too much.

saute the onion in a few tablespoons of earth balance until soft. add in the broccoli and the vegetable stock. simmer for a few minutes or until the broccoli is just tender, but not mushy. while the broccoli simmers, pop the cashews into the bowl of your food processor and puree until smooth- this could take up to 5 minutes depending on your machine. add the cashews to your broccoli. now pop the potatoes into the bowl of your food processor and puree the hell out of those, too! add them to the broccoli soup. now start adding in as much non-dairy milk as you see fit to thin out the texture. i prefer mine pretty thick, so i only used maybe 2 1/2 c of almond milk. once you dig the texture, add in the nutritional yeast. add a dab or two of yellow mustard if you like your ‘cheeze’ tangy, or a little miso if you like it salty. once you’ve got the flavor down, your broccoli will most likely be hitting the ‘soft but not too soft’ stage. use either an immersion blender, or your food processor to puree as much or as little of the soup as you’d like. add some salt and pepper to taste, and you’re good to go!

*my soup took a digger on the floor so i failed to take a pic of it, but the half that stayed in my bowl was still super good!

 

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Vegan Mofo Theme Week!

Posted on November 14, 2010 | Leave a comment

i have decided that this weeks theme will be sourcing recipes, vegan or not, from epicurious.com.

although i have a pretty big cookbook selection, i make dinners out of them so frequently (enough so that some are barely holding together) that a cookbook challenge type week wouldnt have been, well, challenging. most recipes, like tonights, will be slightly ad-libbed depending on what we could find at the coop, or seasonal cooking methods. tonight, we will have butternut squash pizza, with pumpkin substituted for the butternut, and with tofu ricotta and cashew bechamel subbing in for the cheeses. i decided to go with pumpkin at the last minute because i’ve never baked one before, and honestly, butternut squash is kinda played out. dont you think? use the crust recipe found here, or any other 14-16 inch crust that you’d like.

sweet pumpkin pizza

prepared pizza dough-unbaked

1 1-lb sweet/small pumpkin, or winter squash

1 large yellow onion, thinly sliced

2 tbs olive oil

1 1/2 tsp nutmeg

1/2 c raw cashew pieces, ground

1 lb tofu

1 tbs lemon juice

1 tbs nutritional yeast

1/2 c almond milk

1 tsp cashew butter

1 tsp nutritional yeast

1/4 tsp each onion and garlic powder

1 tbs flour

preheat oven to 425. halve your pumpkin/squash and scoop out the seeds. wrap each half in aluminum foil, and place cut side down on a baking tray. bake for about one hour, or until soft and caramelized around the edges. unwrap and mash with the nutmeg, and a pinch of salt when cool.

meanwhile,  saute the onions in the olive oil over low heat until caramelized. about 30 minutes.

grind the raw cashew pieces in a food processor until powdery. add the lemon juice, tofu, and a pinch of salt and process until smooth. portion into 2 containers (save half for another use), and pop into the fridge.

in a saucepan, combine the flour with enough oil to make a roux, and cook until bubbling for about a minute. whisk in the cashew butter, followed slowly by the almond milk, and whisk until thick and smooth. add the garlic and onion powder and a pinch of salt.

by now, the pumpkin should be done, and your oven will already be preheated! roll out the crust to 16 inches or so, maybe around 1/4 inch thick? slide onto your pizza stone if you are as so fortunate to own one, and pre-bake your crust for 3 minutes. if not, pop the pizza on a baking tray, and pre bake for 4 minutes. pull it back out, and spread with the pumpkin. sprinkle on the onions, and dot with blobs of ricotta. re-warm the bechamel if needed, and drizzle over the top of the pizza, bake for 10-13 minutes, or until the cheezes are browned, and the crust is golden.

pumpkin pizza

pumpkin pizza

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Decadent Cashew Heirloom Lasagna

Posted on September 9, 2010 | Leave a comment

mmm hmmm, lasagna. again. its already “fall” again in minneapolis; even though i was sweating my ass off in the 94 degree heat at the fair, by the following wednesday the temps dropped into the low 60′s & 70′s. tear. i honestly hope that it warms up for at least a few more days, as i have a considerable amount of peppers and tomatoes that are thisclose to being ripe. and i want to eat them! the first night that we had a big chill run through the house,  i had another craving for lasagna. i also wanted to tinker with my pasta dough recipe, and i wanted to see what would happen when raw cashew cheeze met the oven; an hour and a half later (due to tinkering endlessly) i had a creamy, ridiculously rich lasagna that was incredibly satisfying. if full strength cashew cheeze is too rich for your palette, try cutting it in half with mashed up, firm tofu, and let it hang in the fridge (preferably overnight) before using. this recipe uses red sauce only as an accent-i use a tad to keep the pasta from sticking, and to serve the lasagna on top of. i will even say that i think i prefer my lasagna this way! marinara can be so sweet, and so overpowering, and with cashew cheeze’s delicate flavor you may want to skimp on the sauce, too!

Cashew Heirloom Lasagna

makes 4-6 servings

1/2 pound fresh pasta recipe here*, rolled out to the #5 setting, and cut into 9 sheets fitting an 8×8 brownie pan -or- 9 whole wheat lasagna sheets from the box

2 Large Heirloom Tomatoes, i used striped germans

15 oz can tomato puree, doctored up any way you like with dried herbs

2 cups sliced cremini mushrooms

1 medium zucchini, halved and sliced

1 medium red onion, quartered and sliced

2 cloves garlic, minced

2 cups raw cashews

1/2 cup nutritional yeast

2 tbs mellow white miso paste

salt to taste

* i tinkered with the recipe, adding ground flaxseeds to replicate egg dough, about 1/2 tbs per 1/4 c h20. this will make your dough hold more water so you may have to keep adding in additional flour as your roll. i thought the flavor was still mild, but it will help pump up your fiber intake-so experiment!

preheat your oven to 375, and get a large pot of water on to boil.

first, the cheeze. place your cashews into a bowl and cover with one inch of water. soak for one hour minimum while you prep everything else.

start the pasta. roll out your pasta to the #5 setting, and cut sheets to fit an 8×8 cake pan. mine were a bit wide and overlapped, and it worked just fine.

filling! slice the tomatoes into 1/4″ rounds and lay onto paper towels to help soak up water. pour a few tablespoons olive oil into a large skillet and heat over a medium flame. start sauteing your onions until soft and starting to turn golden. add in the garlic and mushrooms and cook until the mushrooms release their liquid. add a pinch of salt and raise the heat to cook off the water. now toss in the zucchinis, adding another pinch of salt if necessary to help evaporate the liquid. hint-the wider the pan, the easier this will be. set aside once nice and browned.

cheeze! drain off the cashew water and reserve. toss the nuts, miso, and nooch into your food processors work bowl. pulse until ground, turn the machine on, and stream in enough cashew water to make a paste the consistency of thin frosting. or pudding. or cake batter. you get it.

pasta. is your water boiling yet? if so, add your pasta 3 sheets at a time and cook until floating (if fresh) and remove to a counter top lined in foil or waxed paper. otherwise, cook the boxed stuff until firm but pliable (al dente).

assemble! pour about half of your marinara into the bottom of your casserole/cake pan. layer 3 noodles on top, and cover them with a generous layer of cashew cheeze. arrange 1/3 of your tomato slices on top and sprinkle with 1/2 of your sauteed veggies. this time, repeat the layer without marinara. now add the last layer of pasta, another thick layer of cheese, and decorate with remaining slices of tomatoes. sprinkle with salt and pepper. cover in foil, and bake for 35 minutes, uncover and bake 10 minutes more, or until tomatoes get wrinkly and start to brown. let rest 10 minutes before cutting. warm up the extra marinara to pool on your plate for serving.

vegan cashew tomato lasagna-post baking

vegan cashew tomato lasagna-post baking

a slice of vegan heaven

a slice of vegan heaven


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