Raw Nut Cheese - It's Easy!

Okay, so it's not exactly like real dairy cheese, but it's delicious, it's highly adaptable, it's vegan, it's raw, and it's got vitamins and healthy fats (if you don't eat the whole batch by yourself in one sitting). I am talking about nut cheese, that staple of raw foodism that other people may find strange at first. But, once you make your first batch, you start craving more...

And it's so easy. Really. (my version is dead simple. If you want to get more complicated you can ferment it overnight and/or dehydrate it into cheese with a rind...I have never tried either of these things, myself).

The cheese recipe below is for a creamy, almost ricotta-like texture. It's great as a dip for celery or other veggies, spread on sandwiches or tacos, layered in a raw-sagna, dolloped on top of pasta, etc. Make it in under 5 minutes (not counting nut-soaking time). The reason you soak nuts and seeds before you use them, in case you don't know, is because this removes the enzyme inhibitors which coat them to prevent the plant from germinating until the time is right (and which then prevent you from properly digesting all the good enzymes which are inside the nuts). You 'trick' the nut into thinking it's time to germinate by soaking it - it thinks it's going to grow...and it will...into a delicious cheese for you to eat!

Basic Cashew Cheese with its pal, Celery.

Basic Raw Nut Cheese

2-3 cloves of garlic, minced
juice of 1/2 lemon
1/2 tsp himalayan salt or 3/4 tsp sea salt
1/2 cup water
1 1/2 cup nuts, soaked (cashews, pine nuts and macadamias can be used after 1/2 hour - 1 hour of soaking, but soak almonds, brazil nuts, walnuts at least 8 hours. Always rinse your nuts after you soak them to get rid of the last of the enzyme inhibitors)

Place all ingredients in a blender or food processor in order listed, and process till creamy. Adjust flavors as desired. If you are using a blender you will need the full 1/2 cup of water and will have a dip-like consistency to your cheese (we are in Dawson City right now and I have no food processor so this is my current method). If you have a food processor, start with less water for a thicker cheese, and thin it slowly to your desired consistency. 


optional additions:
minced green onion
minced olives
spices such as cayenne, oregano, thyme, basil, cilantro, cumin etc
cracked black pepper
chopped hot peppers
nutritional yeast
white wine instead of the water
and anything else your little heart desires.

The more you experiment, you will see how different nuts produce different flavors and textures of cheese...cashews and pine nuts are creamy and fatty, macadamias and brazils almost have a drier, cleaner taste to them (brazils are my favorite for cheese), and almonds are drier still. Try combining several different nuts together...the possibilities are limitless.

Makes about one and a half cups of cheesy goodness. Keeps in the fridge about 5 days.