Three Cheeses

Making vegan cheese is not hard to do.  Physically.  It’s really just some kind of a nut, nutritional yeast, maybe some oil, lemon, salt and something to give it a specific flavor.  The Vitamix kinda does the rest.

What’s hard, is adding the right amount of flavoring so that it does not taste like you are sucking on lemons or noshing on a raw onion. And speaking of hard…(PG-13 warning 😉)

When my niece was quite young, she decided to write a series of books ( much like my series of cheeses…see what I did here? How I tied everything together? 😊).  As she has always loved animals, all animals, (seriously, no one is even allowed to squash a bug around this kid, and you get a 10-minute lecture about the circle of life), she decided the heroine of her stories would be a baby otter.

And so the Baby Otter Series was created and shared with her parents, grandparents, aunts, uncles, classmates, teachers, and pretty much anyone who would stand still long enough to listen.

There was Baby Otter is Born, Baby Otter Goes to School, Baby Otter Gets Married, and so on until the series began to include Baby Otter’s husband.  Apparently, in book number 6(?), 7 (?) Baby Otter’s husband gets to make a difficult decision.   This book was titled: (wait for it)…

Baby Otter’s Husband Gets Hard!

I think she might have a future in publishing 😁🤪

Lemon Cashew Cheese

• 1 cup raw cashews, soaked in water for 2 hours, drained
• 1/4 cup nutritional yeast
• 2 teaspoons olive oil
• 3 Tablespoons lemon juice
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 2 cloves garlic
•  1 Tablespoon pine nuts

Garlic Cashew Cheese

• 1 cup raw cashews, soaked in water for 2 hours, drained
• 1/2 cup nutritional yeast
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon olive oil
• juice of 1 lemon ( about 1 Tablespoon)
• 1 head of roasted garlic

Shallot Cashew Cheese

• 1 cup raw cashews, soaked in water for two hours, drained
• 1/2 cup nutritional yeast
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 2 teaspoons olive oil
• juice of 1 lemon ( about 1 Tablespoon)
• 3 really large shallots

Directions:

1. For the garlic or shallot cheese, preheat the oven to 400.
2. Cut the tops off the garlic, drizzle with a bit of olive oil, wrap in tin foil and bake for 30 minutes, or till garlic head is soft when you gently squeeze it, but not mushy.  Allow to cool before using.  Cut the shallots into large chunks. Toss in a bit of olive oil, and roast for about 25-30 minutes or until tender.  Allow to cool before using.
3. To make the cheeses, put all liquid ingredients for each cheese into a high speed blender first (including the garlic or shallots), then add the cashews, salt and nutritional yeast.
4. Put the blender on the lowest setting and purée the ingredients until they are smooth and creamy, using the plunger thingy that comes with the blender (Vitamix) and gradually turning up the speed.  If the cheese won’t purée, you can always add a tiny bit more oil, but do only a bit at a time, or you will have a dip instead of a cheese.  I never got the blender above a 5 either. To make these cheeses creamier and more spreadable for a sandwich or wrap, you can add a bit more oil, but do only a tiny bit at a time.
5. Refrigerate before serving.

Serving suggestions:  add some chopped chives to the garlic cheese (after blending), maybe add some parsley or thyme to the shallot cheese (again, after blending), or, using surgical gloves from the local pharmacy, lightly wet your hands (gloves) and shape the cheese into a log, then roll it in nuts or seeds before refrigerating.

Enjoy!