Recipe adapted by Jyoti Dambiec from ‘The Conscious Cook’ by Tal Ronnen
A delicious, easy to make soft cheese that is the base in many recipes. It is lovely on crackers and polenta, and as a dip. This is the base recipe for making firmer vegan cheeses.
Ingredients:
- 2 cups raw cashew nuts
- 1/4 to 1/2 cup rejuvelac
- 2 tbs. flaky nutritional yeast flakes
- 2 tbs. finely chopped fresh parsley
- Approx. 2 tbs finely chopped herbs e.g. basil, thyme, quantity
- depending on which herbs you use.
- 1 teas. salt
- freshly ground black pepper
Instructions:
- Put cashews in a bowl, and cover with cold water.
- Cover the bowl and let it sit overnight in the fridge, or on the bench if the weather
isn’t too hot. Drain and rinse. - Place the nuts in a blender with the rejuvelac. Blend until very smooth. You may have to stop the blender a few times, and scrape the mixture down with a spatula.
- Transfer to a clean glass bowl, cover with cheesecloth, and leave to culture in a warm place for 14-16 hours or so. Stir in the remaining ingredients.
Notes:
You can use the powder from 6 probiotic tablets in place of rejuvelac dissolved in 1 cup of warm water. The rejuvelac will keep in refrigerated for a week or more.
Both work. If using probiotic tablets you will need to use 6 for 2 cups of cashew nuts. Just break them open and shake out the powder. Worth getting some wheat and trying that though. The sprouting is easy, and it works out much cheaper, plus you have lovely, healthy rejuvelac to drink as well! You can also use the what left after the sprouting to make crackers etc. Or dry it and grind it for flour if you are really keen!