The smoky cheddar meltiness of this cheeze melted my heart!
It's a dopple-ganger of traditional smoked cheddar cheese but made with a special ingredient- cashews!
PS, it brings sandwiches... pizza... no...EVERYTHING to new levels!
Have you noticed how obsessed I am with making my own cheeze?
(Cheese with a 'z' = vegan!)
There is something beyond satisfying creating food that replicates food that is no longer on my menu. That's why you'll find all of the all time favorite meals showing up on my blog revamped and in my opinion, better than the original!
On my journey of health, at first, despite all signs pointing against it, I clung like a monkey to cheese. I thought I could never let it go! So, I didn't!
I just did not want it to not be good for me! I was eating cheese by the blocks that my mom would buy me on sale in bulk to help a broke student out. (Notice a pattern here? All of my harmful food choices surrounded around finacial struggle!)
Being defiant and strong willed as I am, I decided (at first) that sheep and goat cheese would be OK to eat iif t were ethically sourced. Their milk is said to be closer to ours so I told myself it would be healthy and it was sustainbly sourced so no problem!
Only, not no problem. In fact, huge problem.
Dairy is known to cause a wackload of hormonal issues especially in women and in my body, dairy liked to give me horrendous mood swings, aggressive acne and digestion difficulty.
Hmmm... not good. Good thing I woke myself up and admitted it finally.
While it's no question that my health improved dramatically, there was a hole in my heart where this substance used to be on my sandwiches and pizzas and crackers.
What would I do?
Eventually I got to the point where I refused to cheat my body, knowing the hell I was putting it through but it was really difficult for me as I know it is for a lot of people!
So, I make really freaking good, plant based (no dairy at all) cheeze that tastes like the real deal with no repercussions!
How exciting is that! No animals harmed in the process (you are an animal too!)
Andddd because I like ya'll, I'll share it with you! 😘
What you need:
Step 1
- 1 ¼ cup cashews (soaked overnight)
- ½ cup coconut oil
- 1 tbs olive oil
- ½ cup nutritional yeast
- 1 tsp salt
- 1 tbs liquid smoke
- 1/8 cup lemon juice
- 3 garlic cloves
- 1/2 tbs turmeric
- 1/2 tbs sea salt
- 1 tsp paprika
Step 2
- 1/8 cup arrowroot powder
- 1/2 cup filtered water
What to do:
- Combine cashews, oil, nutritional yeast, seasonings, garlic cloves, lemon juice and smoke in a food processor and blend together.
- Heat the water in a skillet over medium heat until it boils.
- As soon as the water is hot, add the powder until it gels and stir quickly.
- Arrowroot gets sticky whenever added with heated water and clumps into this gel that holds the cheese together!
- Once you get the gel, remove from heat and add to the cheeze mixture in the processor.
- I began this recipe as simply cheddar and decided to make it smoky! These pictures are my evolution of the recipe but if you're starting smoky, just add it all in at first. Keep tasting along the way to check how you like it!
- Add more nutritional yeast for more cheesy flavor!
- Blend well until the mixture is liquidy, then pour into a container and chill until it sets.
- It will harden into a perfect cheese consistency and can melt when added to heat!
- Add it to things like this amazing veggie patty sandwich/burger orrrr homemade pizza!
Teaser alert: I made the best pizza I have ever had and that's saying something being me, with this cheese! Stay tuned for that!
Until then, I hope you enjoy this! It's actually out of this world delicious! Yum! 😘
I truly believe we can heal ourselves through food and it is my mission in life to create and inspire delicious, mouth watering creations that are beneficial and packed full of plant based goodies to fuel our bodies, minds and lives! 💖
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Sending you love through food, travel, inspiration and epic storytime!
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