After visiting Rawlicious I decided to make a raw almond cheese. I bought my raw almonds during the visit to Johnvince Foods. I mainly chose almonds because I couldn’t find cashews in the shell and the prepackaged organic ones contained a huge list of allergens. Milk? Really? I’m definitely going to look for raw cashews, but this is a start.
So, how did I make this stuff*?
- 1 1/2 cups of almonds (soak in hot water to remove skins)
- 2 tablespoons of nutritional yeast
- 4 tablespoons of freshly squeezed lemon juice
- 3/4 cup of water
- 1/2 a tablespoon of salt
*I divided the mixture in two batches, for the second batch I used 1cup of red and yellow peppers
All of it went into the Vitamix, mixed until smooth, then poured it into cheese cloths, folded it all up with a water weight on top and a colander underneath. Put it into the fridge over night et voila!
The result is more of a cream cheese, which I intend to use as a sandwich spread, lettuce wrap, veggie dip, nacho topping, oh the list is endless.
I’m not too keen on the original flavour, I will most likely add a vegetable to it for more flavour, maybe garlic and dill, I’m not sure yet.
One thing is for sure the pepper one is incredibly fragrant and delicious. Yay!
Have you made your own cheese? I’d love to know! Comment or email me.
Happy eating!
There is a reason you can’t get cashews in the shell. Cashews are in the poison ivy family and the shell is lined with a chemical that causes a rash. Heat is used to remove the caustic “oil” from the inside of the shell. Therefore, no cashews you buy are ever “raw”, and you need to soak them for no more than six hours. More and they get yucky.