Cashew Cheez

Well, I am proud of myself - I finally made something I would normally be horrified to make - Cashew Cheez. I mentioned it briefly in my last post.

Every time I heard of fake 'cheez' I thought - this is definitely something those hippies have gotten wrong! As a cheese lover, the thought of fake, nut-based cheese was just...disgusting. Sorry for how harsh that sounds

But, alas, I assumed 'nut-based' to mean something lumpy, salty and 'nutty' when in fact, that connot be further from the truth.

The cashew cheese was like sweet ricotta. In fact it reminded me of alfredo sauce - an indulgent, rich creamy texture, and it was magnificent!!

I'm incredibly proud of myself, only because i finally tried something completely different and reluctant about, but I was also inspired to create my own recipe - Butternut Squash Alfredo!!

OK ok, I seem to see that combination everywhere now that I made it...hey great minds think alike.

Cashew Ricotta Recipe
2 cups cashews (almost). Soaked overnight
2 lemons
2 garlic cloves
salt, and more salt
basil (or maybe try with sage - I've heard its a killer combination with squash)
dash of truffle oil
water for consistency

ahhh this was so incredible. It tasted like a fluffy, sweet, tangy ricotta!

All I did was add a few broken pieces of basil and some cubed butternut squash, smooshed the squash down. The fibres looked like melted cheddar cheese, so i used this to convince Colin to try. He loved it. Really loved it.

I wasn't 'raw' with it. I threw this mix on top of pasta. However,I cut down my usual pasta portion down by half, and felt incredibly full.

I also had some bread with this. Bad. Bad
Some substitutes: - flax crackers, lentil based breads

Instead if pasta: rice pasta, zuccini pasta, raw wrap or quessadilla


Here is another great recipe:
Amazing asian stuffed peppers
Kale and Bok choy side

This is a great way to use up rice - again I will use brown rice next time!!

Basmati rice pilaf stuffing

sesame sead oil
Carrot
Yam
1 onion
tempura/soy sauce
grated ginger
lemon/lime juice


This was really heavy on the ginger, but that's ok. I love the flavor.

Stuff the mixture into a few brightly colored peppers and bake away for 30 min or so at 300F. I also added some tempura sauce on top of the peppers and around the dish. If I had mushrooms, I would have definitely included them!

When these are out of the oven, make the veggies:

Steam 'fry' veggies - give the veggies a steam.

3 heads of baby bok choy
Head of kale
with tempura sauce

I got hungry while waiting....

The pilaf was great with shredded carrot, cucumber sticks, cilantro and diced thai chilli peppers. YUM!!! I snacked on this while my peppers cooked.

On a side note - I can't believe how delicious bok choy is! The broth from the steaming was so incredible - I think I will do this as a soup next time, add some wonderful meaty mushrooms to it. I am SOLD on bok choy! Kale takes a bit of getting used to though, but not as bad as I anticipated.