Cashews everything around me…. cheese! | Easy Cashew Cheese Recipe with Sun-dried Tomatoes

**This is an older blog post transferred here. I no longer really consider this “cheese” so much as just a dip but it is still SO DELICIOUS.

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June 20, 2016:

After my first fail of making spreadable, meltable “cheddar” cheese, I thought I’d given up all hope. I said, I’m never making cheese again! I don’t even have the time for it anyway!

Then I went to Vegfest and found a local business that sold cashew cheese, so I sampled it and fell in love. Or so I thought. Everything, as usual, is packaged in plastic. When I asked the lady if I could visit her location with my own container, she seemed put off and told me the only way I could do that is if she told me when she was making the cheese. Ok. I said, I’ll happily come visit you so that I don’t have to buy anything in plastic! I’ll come to you, I don’t mind!

Ten minutes later it became clear that I was a burden. So I left. Cheeseless.

After that I decided to discover the world of vegan cashew cheese myself, which I am so happy I did. It took me less than 10 minutes (after soaking the cashews of course).

This recipe is adapted from this one by Blissful Basil.

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INGREDIENTS

• 1 cup raw cashew pieces (soaked over night in a bowl with little salt)
• 1 tbsp water
• 2 tbsp nutritional yeast
• 1 freshly squeezed lemon
• 1 tsp balsamic vinegar
• 1 tsp garlic salt
• dash of black pepper
• 1/4 tsp dried oregano
• 1/4 tsp dried basil
• 1/4 tsp dried thyme
• 2 tbsp sundried tomatoes (soaked in water for 10 minutes to let it expand)

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DO IT

1) Drain cashews from water. Toss in blender.

2) Add all the rest of the ingredients, except the sundried tomatoes.

3) Blend until mixture is creamy, about 3-4 minutes.

4) Add the sundried tomatoes, blend for another 2-3 minutes.

Pour the mixture into a bowl.

You can eat it right away or you can stick it in your fridge and torture yourself knowing how delicious it is that you end up wanting to eat it right away.

I made my mom try it and she loved it. And my son, with very little convincing, ate it too. With carrots! Now I’ll never have to depend on anyone else to make me cashew cheese again.

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MAKE IT ZERO WASTE:

• Cashews and sundried tomatoes were ordered in bulk through Mountain Path, but you can find raw cashew pieces at your natural food store, like Rainbow Foods, Kardish or Herb and Spice, along with all of your dried spices. I’ll have to double check where sells the sundried tomatoes in bulk, but most likely the places I mentioned.