If you are one of those who like to add a slice of cheese to your sandwich but are trying to minimize your intake of dairy, then this full-flavored non-dairy cheese is for you.
I make it with cashew nuts as the base but it is also possible to make it using already cooked cauliflower, either instead of the nuts or together with the nuts.
An all cauliflower version is obviously a lot lighter and lower in calories than the all nut version. To me, however, leaving out the nuts altogether means it looses too much oomph. Personally, I prefer to use a mix of nuts and cauliflower. That way you get both a good amount of body from the nuts and a good dose of health from the cauliflower. Win win!
Even though this non-dairy cheese can be frozen I don’t recommend it. Due to the high water content it becomes too soggy once it defrosts. But the cheese also works great cubed and added to a salad so there’s no need to make a smaller batch.
Looking for that perfect bread on which to serve this non-dairy cheese? Look no further. Any one of these breads will do the trick.
Non-Dairy Cheese
Ingredients
- 1/2 cup (125 ml) raw cashew nuts or cooked cauliflower or a mix. See my suggestion above
- 1/4 cup (4 tablespoons) nutritional yeast
- 3/4 teaspoon pink Himalayan salt or sea salt
- 1/2 teaspoon onion powder
- 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
- 400 ml water
- 1 1/2 tablespoons powdered agar-agar
- 1/4 cup fresh lemon juice
- 1 tablespoon Dijon mustard
Instructions
- Blend the cashew nuts with the nutritional yeast, salt, onion powder and garlic powder in a blender until you get a fine flour. Leave the flour in the blender while you move on to the next step.
- Add the water to a small saucepan and whisk in the agar-agar powder. Bring to a gentle boil and cook, continuously whisking, for 5-8 minutes. You will know it’s ready when it turns translucent.
- Add the agar-agar water to the blender along with the cooked cauliflower, if using. Add the mustard and lemon juice as well, then blend it all together until the mixture is completely smooth.
- Pour into a container (see suggestion below), cover with a lid and refrigerate until set, a few hours. I use a rectangular glass container measuring 6 1/2 x 4 1/2 inches (17 x 11 cm) which has a snap-on lid.
- The “cheese” will keep for about a week, refrigerated. Freezing doesn't work that well because it becomes quite soggy once it is defrosted.
