Monday, September 17, 2012

Vegan Nut Ball Cheese

Who doesn't love cheese? Cheese is a beloved food of many and a common staple in most households. So what do you do when you decide to make a good choice for your health and become a Vegan? Well, you start making your own "cheese."

We make many different varieties of cheese including American Cheese, Queso, Spicy Almond Cheese, Cream Cheese, Pine Nut Parmesan Cheese and Nut Ball Cheese to name a few. Today, we are going to share with you our recipe for Nut Ball Cheese!

This recipe is one that is very popular for parties. It seems like no matter how large of a recipe we make, there is never any left over!

You can serve it many different ways: As one large mold (shown in photo), as a large ball, as many small balls, cut into small squares - the possibilities are endless! You can serve it on rice crackers, flax crackers, cucumbers, tomatoes and more.

Vegan Nut Ball Cheese- {Back to Eden Health Ministry}

Nut Ball Cheese

1½ cups raw brazil nuts
¼ cup lemon juice
4 Tbsp olive oil, divided
2 cloves garlic, pressed
1 tsp Celtic sea salt
¼ cup, water
¼ cup nutritional yeast
2 Tbsp fresh parsley
2 Tbsp fresh rosemary
1 Tbsp fresh thyme
½ tsp ground black pepper
 
Place nuts in bowl, cover with water and refrigerate 6 hours or overnight. Drain water from nuts and put nuts in food processor with lemon juice, 3 Tbsp olive oil, garlic, salt and ¼ cup water. Blend until smooth and creamy. Add nutritional yeast and reblend. Chop parsley, rosemary and thyme and combine with pepper in a bowl.
 
Option 1: Place in saran wrap to help you “mold” into ball shape. Carefully unwrap cheese ball and coat with chopped nuts  (optional) and herb mixture. Place into dehydrator and warm until ball begins to crack. Transfer to platter and drizzle with remaining olive oil.
 
Option 2: Place the cheese mixture in a 9x13 pan and spread across bottom of pan. Top cheese with chopped nuts and herb mixture. Place into dehydrator and warm.
 
Option 3: Roll cheese into small (1 inch) balls. Roll in herb mixture.
 
Serve with crackers and fresh vegetables.