purplepossom
Making your own cheese is pretty straightforward, so here are a few recipes I've collected for you to try (though I've not yet tried any myself so can't comment on how they taste!) They are both vegan and raw...
Basic Seed Cheese (Raw)
- 2 cups sunflower seeds
- 1 cup pignoli nuts
- 1 inch / 2.5 centimeter piece ginger, peeled
- 2 cloves garlic
- 1 teaspoon dried oregano
- 1/4 cup fresh basil
- Bragg's liquid aminos to taste
Combine all in a blender with enough water to cover. Start blender, adding more water to produce a very thick creamy liquid. Pour into a sprout bag and squeeze out liquid. You are left with cheese. The remaining liquid becomes a dressing with the addition of fresh minced herbs and a little more braggs amino. To thicken the dressing blend in some tahini.
Nut Cheese
Some nuts and seeds may be cultured to make a non-dairy cheese but choose only those nuts and seeds which do not go rancid easily. The nuts and seeds should also be organic, fresh and free from mould.
Makes ~ 2 cups.
Grind the almonds to a flour in a food processor or grain mill then mix with either the kefir whey and water to make a thick paste, or alternatively the rejuvelac. Spoon the mixture into a glass jar, cap loosely and leave in a warm place (25C) for about 6-8 hours or until the mixture has doubled in size. When the nut cheese is ready it should smell cheesy. Store in a refrigerator
Spicy Almond Cheese (serves 4)
Mix the following ingredients in a bowl:
2 cups pulp from almond milk (pulp should be plain, not sweetened)
1/4 cup olive oil*
1/2 cup lemon juice
1/2 teaspoon of Celtic Sea Salt*
1/4 cup fresh or dried dill weed
1/2 cup diced onions
1/2 cup diced red bell pepper
Cheesy Sauce
- 1 T tahini
- 1/2 T miso
- 1 T nutritional yeast
- Juice of 1/2 lemon
- Salt and pepper
- Water as needed
Mix the lot up. Quantities should be treated as highly variable - adjust according to taste, and add water as needed to get it to a spreadable sort of consistency. Using warm water would help dissolve the miso (I suppose you could dissolve it ahead of time, on its own, which might help).
You can then experiment with the basic resipes...adding your own ingredients. I'm planning on making the basic seed cheese with walnuts and figs to have with some scrummy banana bread I've just made in my dehydrator!
Happy cheese making!
Amber :)