Adventures in Vegan Cheese

I don't know if I've mentioned it in this blog yet...but I'm vegan. Perhaps I'll make a post on the whys and hows at some point in the future, but for now, suffice it to say that I don't eat anything that used to have a mother, or came from something that used to have a mother. The end.

I've only been vegan for a short while, and I hadn't yet ventured into the intimidating world of vegan cheese...until today. My first attempt was actually somewhat successful. It was a test recipe for Chevre from Joy's cookbook. It's made from cashews, and set with agar flakes {a vegetarian "gelatin"}. After a bit of trial and tribulation, I was finally able to concoct a cheese-like substance that tasted like a rich fancy imported cream cheese. Overall, I'm impressed with the results.

I spread some of the Chevre on pieces of whole grain toast and topped them with strawberry preserves:



Then I froze one log of the Chevre to bring it to a cut-able texture. I sliced it into rounds, dipped the rounds in soy milk, coated them thoroughly in panko bread crumbs, and then baked them in the oven until they were golden brown. I used these rounds in a Raspberry & Baked Chevre Salad w/ Pineapple Champagne Vinaigrette. The salad had raspberries and macadamia nuts and little chunks of pineapple. It was a gorgeous light summer lunch:





To go with the salad, I made another of Joy's test recipes: skinny chewy Savory Sticks!



All in all it was a good day, and I had a lot of fun in the kitchen! I can't wait to do some more cooking tomorrow.