Greetings plant-based cheese lovers! When I saw this post - The Brand New PLANT BASED challenge: I can’t believe it's not CHEESE! - I got all excited!
Though the contest comes about a month or two too early, as my vegan aged cheese experiments are going to start soon - having an extra day off this week made me go all out on the vegan cheeses.
I just ordered cheese starters on Amazon to make aged cheese. A friend that is currently visiting her family in the States is going to bring them for me. Though it has improved a lot over the past years, finding certain (health) food items in Cambodia can be a real challenge.
I have been willing to try a vegan brie, camembert, and blue cheese for ages but never could find the right cultures to do so. The blue cheese experiments, however, will have to wait until somebody else can bring me the starter as it was currently out of stock 😞
Nonetheless, I am getting very excited to receive my starters in a week or two.
VEGAN CHEESE BOARD WITH HOMEMADE SEED CRACKERS AND RED WINE
Luckily, you don’t need fancy ingredients to make some good vegan cheeses. Before we eliminated dairy from our lives both my hubby and I were cheese lovers. Maybe even cheese addicts. There was a time in our life, cheese and wine evenings were a regular thing.
Having an extra day off this week, I spent Monday afternoon preparing 4 different kinds of vegan cheese to pair with a beautiful organic red wine I bought the day before.
Overview of the cheeses I made:
- #1 VEGAN CREAM CHEESE WITH FRESH HERBS
- #2 HERB-CRUSTED PROVOLONE CHEESE
- #3 SAUREKRAUT JUICE-INFUSED CHEESE
- #4 SMOKEY CHEDDAR CHEESE
#1 VEGAN CREAM CHEESE WITH FRESH HERBS
Ingredients (makes about 2 cups)
- 1.5 cup raw cashews, soaked
- ¼ cup unsweetened vegan yogurt
- 1 Tbsp lemon juice
- 1 Tbsp apple cider vinegar
- ½ tsp Himalayan pink salt
- 1 tsp onion powder
- A few splashes of plant milk (I used homemade cashew milk, see instructions below)
- ½ cup or a small handful of fresh parsley
- ⅓ cup leaf celery herb
FYI: for the yogurt, I used homemade cashew yogurt. Find the recipe HERE
Parsely came from our garden. We found an old drainage pipe in the garden a while ago and turned it into a small herb garden… Parsley is doing well.
Instructions
Soak cashew nuts in boiled water for at least 30 minutes.
Add all ingredients except the fresh herbs into a blender. Blend on max speed until smooth, cheesy consistency. Add a few splashes of plant milk as needed.
Finely chop the fresh herbs and stir into the cheese.
#2 HERB-CRUSTED PROVOLONE CHEESE
FYI: I used 500ml plastic round containers as a mold
Ingredients (makes 2 small round pieces of cheese, diameter 11 cm)
- 1 cup raw cashew nuts, soaked
- 1 cup filtered water
- ¼ cup coconut oil (I used refined coconut oil to avoid coconut flavor)
- ¼ cup corn starch
- 1 tsp Himalayan pink salt
- 2.5 tsp agar agar
- 2 Tbsp nutritional yeast
Herb mix for the crust
- 1 Tbsp dried oregano
- 1 tsp dried thyme
- 1 tsp dried basil
- ½ tsp dried rosemary
- ½ tsp cumin powder
- ½ tsp black pepper
- ½ tsp onion powder
Instructions
Soak cashew nuts in boiled water for at least 30 minutes.
Lightly grease your molds with coconut oil.
Add all ingredients, except herb mix, into a blender and blend until smooth.
In a small pot or saucepan, heat the mixture over medium-low heat while stirring. Keep stirring until you have a thick cheese-like consistency.
Remove from heat and pour into the greased molds. Allow to cool slightly before putting the molds in the fridge to set. This will take about 30 minutes to one hour.
When completely cooled and set, pop the cheeses out of their molds and coat them with herb mix.
#3 SAUERKRAUT JUICE-INFUSED CHEESE
As a mold, I used a small ribbed cup as I wanted to create a different style of round cheese.
The other day I made ginger- and turmeric-infused red beet, carrot, and cabbage sauerkraut (recipe coming soon). I used some of the brine to make the cheese.
If you want to make a similar cheese, any sauerkraut or pickle juice/brine will do the trick.
Ingredients (makes 1 cup-sized round cheese)
- ¾ cup unsweetened cashew milk (see below how to make it)
- 2 Tbsp refined coconut oil
- 2 Tbsp nutritional yeast
- 1 Tbsp agar-agar
- ¼ to ½ tsp Himalayan pink salt
- ½ tsp onion powder
- ½ tsp garlic powder
- 3 tbsp sauerkraut juice/brine (lukewarm)
- 1 tbsp corn starch
Instructions
To make the cashew milk (makes a little more than 1 liter)
Soak 1 cup of raw cashews in boiled water for at least 30 minutes. Drain and add to a blender with 4 cups of water. Blend until smooth.
To make the cheese
Mix sauerkraut brine and corn starch in a small bowl. Set aside.
Add all other ingredients to a small pot or saucepan, bring to a simmer while stirring. The milk will start to thicken. After about 2 minutes, add the brine and keep stirring until you have a thick cheese-like consistency that starts to stick together.
Pour into a greased mold and allow to cool before popping the mold into the fridge for the cheese to set. This will take about 30-60 minutes.
When set, pop out of the mold and serve.
#4 SMOKEY CHEDDAR CHEESE
FYI: I used 500ml plastic round containers as a mold
This cheese is perfect to grate to use for casseroles, pizzas, pasta, etc. You can freeze them too, that’s why I made a big recipe.
Ingredients (makes 4 small round pieces of cheese, diameter 11 cm)
- 1 cup water
- 1 cup old-fashioned rolled oats
- 1 cup sweet potato mash
- 1 red bell pepper, quartered
- ½ cup nutritional yeast
- ½ Tbsp smoked paprika
- A few drops liquid smoke to taste
- 1½ tsp Himalayan pink salt
- ½ tsp ground black pepper
- 1 tsp onion powder
- 1 tsp garlic powder
- 1.5-2 Tbsp lemon juice
- 2½ Tbsp agar agar + 1⅓ cup water
Instructions
Cook sweet potatoes until tender, drain, and mash. Allow to cool.
Add quartered red bell pepper, skin up, on a grill. Grill in the oven until charred. When chared add to aluminum foil to further steam a little. This will make it easier for the skin the come off. Remove charred skin.
Add all ingredients, except 2½ Tbsp agar-agar + 1⅓ cup water, to a powerful blender and blend until smooth and creamy. Small tip: to make sure all is well blended pour ½ cup of the water in your blender first, then add all other ingredients and finish with the other half of water. When smooth, taste and add more salt or other flavorings if needed.
In a small pot or saucepan, heat water and agar-agar. Bring to a gentle boil. Stir constantly. When boiling, turn down the heat and keep stirring until the mixture has a thick molasses type of consistency.
When the agar is ready you need to handle it fast, Quickly pour the agar agar, using a spatula, in the blender with the cheesy mix and blend for about 20 to 30 seconds to make sure the agar is well incorporated.
Pour the mixture into plastic or rubber containers or molds. Let set in the fridge for at least 30 minutes to one hour.
FYI: If using less flexible molds like a cup, or baking tin, grease with coconut oil so the cheese easily comes out of the mold.
When hardened, turn the containers and gently squeeze them to let the cheese slit out on a plate.
OTHER CHEESE BOARD INGREDIENTS
- Bottle of organic red wine
- Pearl onions
- Pickled gherkins
- Rocket lettuce
- Green olives
- Marinated grilled peppers
- Seed crackers
FYI: Find my recipes for homemade seed crackers HERE!
ASSEMBLE CHEESE BOARD
WISHING YOU ALL A HAPPY AND HEALTHY DAY ღ ღ ღ
ALL CONTENT IS MINE AND ORIGINAL!
PICTURE(s) TAKEN WITH GOOGLE PIXEL 3 XL
LET'S CONNECT!
Website - Facebook - Google+ - Twitter - Pinterest - YouTube
🥑🍓🍆 FIND MORE YUMMY PLANT-BASED CREATIONS BELOW 🥑🍓🍆
RED LENTIL PASTA WITH LEEKS AND MUSHROOMS IN A CREAMY CASHEW SAUCE
CRUNCHY HOMEMADE GRANOLA BARS WITH NUTS, SEEDS, AND CHOCOLATE CHIPS