Divine Cashew Cheese

Recipe courtesy of Plant-Based Goodness by Tracey Bennett, The Reckless Foodie, RRP $49.99

This is an absolute must for recovering ‘cheesaholics’, like me haha. I mean it, though — the creamy, velvety texture means you can put it in a celery stick, spread it under avocado on toast or slather it on a cracker with a slice of tomato and some salt and pepper, among many other things. You will more than satisfy those savoury cheese cravings, my friends. Trust me on this one . . . keep some in a cute jar in your fridge.

Makes a generous cupful

Oil, Gluten and Sugar free, Freezer Friendly

Ingredients

• 1 cup raw cashews, soaked overnight or at least for a few hours
• juice of 1 lemon (or more if desired)
• 3 Tbsp nutritional yeast (aka savoury yeast flakes)
• 1 Tsp garlic powder
• 3 cloves garlic, crushed
• ¼–½ Tsp smoked paprika (optional)
• ½ Tsp fine natural sea salt
• cracked black pepper to taste
• a squirt of good-quality Sriracha sauce if you like heat

Method

Drain and rinse soaked cashews. Blend them with all other ingredients in a high-speed blender or food processor until creamy and smooth.

Decant into a little jar with a well-sealed lid and keep in your fridge for up to a week.

To serve, enjoy with your favourite crackers or veggie sticks – you could even try Rustic Superseed Crackers (see recipe below). A great one to make weekly or bi-weekly as part of your meal prep on a Sunday. So creamy, dreamy and delish!

Chef’s Hint

Make sure you don’t use brewer’s yeast in this recipe! Savoury yeast flakes or nutritional yeast is what you are after to create that savoury, cheesy, umami vibe. To make your own delicious and nutritious seedy crackers,— these are great with this creamy, plant-based cheese.

Goodness Tip

The biggest bonus of this recipe is that it helps keep us away from cheese — for good or at least for a lot of the time. That alone is a huge positive for many people.

Rustic Superseed Crackers

These delicious, versatile and easy-to-make seeded crackers are full of the good stuff and next-level scrummo! Make up a batch every other weekend or so, and take to work with all your favourite healthy toppings. Or serve them on a grazing platter when you have friends over. Or, hey, why not tuck in for a solo sesh and have them slathered with Divine Cashew Cheese? To make these crackers nut free, sub the almonds for extra sunflower and pumpkin seeds.

Makes 25–30 crackers

Oil, Gluten and Sugar Free

Ingredients

• 1 cup raw almonds, soaked overnight or for at least 6 hours
• 1 cup pumpkin seeds
• 1 cup sunflower seeds
• ½ cup linseed (flax seeds)
• 2 Tbsp chia seeds
• 3–5 Tbsp nutritional yeast (savoury yeast flakes)
• 1 Tsp garlic powder
• 1 large clove garlic (or more if you like), peeled (optional)
• ½ Tsp fine natural sea salt
• 1 Tsp dried mixed herbs or oregano
• 1¼ cups water

Method

Drain and rinse soaked almonds, pat dry and whizz in a food processor for a few minutes to produce a chunky mix.

Add half of each type of seed along with nutritional yeast, garlic powder, garlic clove if using, sea salt and herbs to the processor. Pulse until nicely combined — probably 2–3 minutes, or more if you feel the mixture is too chunky.

Transfer to a mixing bowl and add the remaining whole seeds and the water. Let sit for at least 30 mins to allow the chia and linseed to become gelatinous.

Line a baking tray with baking paper and transfer mixture onto the tray. Use another piece of baking paper and a rolling pin or glass bottle to press and roll the mixture out over the baking paper. Ensure that the thickness is the same all over, to avoid some parts cooking and others not.

Preheat oven to 150°C fan-bake. Bake for 30–45 minutes, depending on your oven. Check them at around 35 mins and assess how much longer they’ll need — every oven is different, and your cracker thickness may also be different to mine.

The crackers are done when they are slightly browned/golden and they feel like a cracker.Depending on your preference, slice immediately into squares or leave to cool on the baking tray and then break into funky chunks. If you want more-even cracker shapes, you can score the mixture with a knife before it goes into the oven.

Serve slathered with avocado, pesto, tomatoes, peanut butter . . . the choice is yours!

Chef’s Hint

Have fun and mix it up with this recipe — add chopped sun-dried tomatoes, change

the herb options, reduce or increase the nutritional yeast. Get wild on it.