Great vegan fresh cheese for dipping veggies or spreading on a sandwich. It also makes a great ricotta substitute for non-dairy lasagna, etc. Enjoy!
Ingredients
1 1/4 cup
Almonds, raw
((soaked in water for at least 2 hours; overnight))
2 tbsp
Lemon juice
(fresh)
3 tbsp
Olive Oil, Extra Virgin
1 1/4 tsp
Salt
2/3 cup
Water
1 tbsp
Nutritional yeast
1/4 cup
Garlic chives
((substitute scallions or herbs if desired))
Instructions
Drain the almonds, and remove the skin from each almond by hand. This makes the cheese more white and gives it a more cheese-like appearance. But you can also leave the skins for a more textured look and taste.
Place the peeled almonds and all the remaining ingredients except for the garlic greens in a food processor. Start with only half the water. You can add the rest of the water later if you think you need it. Process the mixture for at least 2 minutes. Check for smoothness. If you can recognize pieces of almond, it isn't smooth enough. Continue processing if needed. This could take a while and it may seem like you are processing too much, but it's okay. Add the rest of the water if needed, or as much as you need to get the consistency you want.
Once you reach the consistency you like, add the garlic greens and process until the greens are mixed in and chopped, but still large enough to give some green speckled color to the cheese. Give it a final taste and adjust ingredients where needed. I like it when it gets to the consistency of ricotta cheese. They key is to get it past tasting like ground up almonds.
Serve as desired. For this particular post, I sliced up 2 medium zucchini, tossed in olive oil and seasoning, and grilled both sides. They made a great hors d'oeuvre base with the cheese on top. Yum!
