Red Pepper Cashew Cheese (raw)

Giving up meat, not the easiest thing in the world, but not a big deal.  The idea of giving up cheese...? Huge deal. At least for me.  So the idea that nuts can be used to mimic different cheeses is very intriguing. 

Several raw food sites and books point to cashews as the gateway nut.  Okay, I don't think anyone actually used that term specifically, but I stand by it.  Cashews are so easy to turn into cheese-ish dishes, that you'll immediately want to see what else you can do.

Not to say that  this is identical to cheese, but it has a dense, creamy texture (it is still full of fats after all) and can sneak right into the place of a cheese dish.   A cashew cheese dip/spread could totally hang out on an appetizer table at a party without being called out as the weird hippie food someone brought in.

Step 1: Ingredients

Ingredients
2 cups Cashews (Soaked at least 4 hours)
1/2 red pepper
1/2 shallot
2 Tbs Nutritional yeast (Optional)
1 Tbs garlic salt
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp cumin
1/2 tsp ground white pepper
3 capsules Probiotic (Dissolved in 1 cup water)

Top
2 Tbs Mixed spices (Garlic, sea salt, black pepper, dill seed, coriander, red pepper flakes)

Comments

[Jaynelane8]

What size is the mold? Can you use something else in place of it?

[annahowardshaw]

It was just a tin that held around two cups. Nothing fancy about it...

[Nancy Durand lanson]

where do you get the probiotic?

[annahowardshaw]

Most places that have supplements in a refrigerated case would probably have them. Any health food store or Whole Foods if need be. But you can also try out some recipes (including this one) without them first (they are not cheap).

[jrossetti]

What's your reason for giving up cheese?

[annahowardshaw]

Actually, I'm still kicking the idea around and substituting/cutting back right now. Pretty much the normal reasons...environmental, health, factory farming, etc.

[im3733]

This sounds delicious, one question, is the probiotic critical to the process? I assume it has to do with stabilizing the fats so that it can pass as a soft cheese?

[annahowardshaw]

Only necessary for some recipes. I did a cheese sauce that didn't use probiotics and was great!  Probiotics add more depth of flavor and texture, but definitely try out some recipes without them first if you are curious!

[rocketsurgery]

Yum! Thanks for sharing!