When you give up dairy, you give up cheese and all its unique qualities - how it melts, stretches, binds ingredients together and goes crispy when cooked.
While the qualities and unique flavours of cheese may be lost, nut cheeses add a unique, creamy richness and flavour profile all their own. While I often use nut cheeses as a substitution for regular cheese, I try to create a new taste sensation rather than seek to imitate dairy cheese.
There are many vegan cheeses on the market but I like to make my own to avoid nutritional yeast, natural flavours, cultures and all sorts of unwanted ingredients. When we make our own nut cheeses, we get to choose our spices, salt content and how sharp or mild they are.
This is my ‘feta cheese’ made from cashew nuts. While you can use all sorts of nuts, when blended, cashews are extremely smooth and creamy compared to other nuts. In this ‘feta’ I use the brine from green Sicilian olives not black olives. It is very important to find Sicilian olives in only water and salt with no citric acid added. You may have to do some searching. They are available but you may have to look in specialty groceries and/or health food stores. Green olives sold at the Deli counter usually have citric acid added. If you can’t find clean brine, you may want to experiment by using filtered water and adding a tsp of thoroughly rinsed capers in salt. Be creative and have fun!
Cashew Nut ‘Feta Cheese’
Ingredients
1 1/2 cups organic cashew nuts, soaked in filtered water for 4-6 hours (or overnight)
1/2 cup filtered water
1/2 cup brine from green Sicilian olives (only water and salt, no citric acid added)
1/4 cup + 2 tsp fresh lemon juice
1 1/2 tsp Himalayan pink salt
1 tsp onion powder
1/2 tsp garlic powder
2 tsp agar agar (not flakes)
Method
Soak the cashews in filtered water for several hours in a ceramic or glass bowl.
When thoroughly soaked, strain and rinse cashews. Put in a high speed blender with all the other ingredients. Blend until smooth and creamy.
Pour the blended cheese in to a sauce pan. While stirring constantly, bring the cheese to a boil for at least a couple of minutes. Because the cheese is thick, it will puff and spit at boiling point. It is important to get to boiling temperature as this activates the agar agar powder and allows the cheese to film up and be sliceable.
Immediately pour the cheese in to a medium sized glass air tight storage container with a lid. Spread the cheese out evenly and smooth the top. Allow to cool to room temperature so it will not sweat when stored. Snap on the lid and refigerate for several hours or until firm.
Enjoy in salads, wraps, on vegetable burgers or use as a substitute when feta cheese is needed in a recipe.