Herbed Cashew Cheese

This is an absolutely fabulous cheesy spread to put on your wild yeast (unleavened) bread.  Just dip in and spread several tablespoons on your bread and enjoy pure satisfaction.  Or, you can add some vegetables on top and make into a sandwich.  I discovered this Herbed Cashew Cheese from my daughter at Little House of Veggies.   She makes some fabulous creations in her kitchen and they are kid tested too!!  I just taught a class on unleavened bread last night and we sampled the Herbed Cashew Cheese, a Paprika (Cashew) Cheese Ball and an Artichoke Dip on our fresh baked No-Knead Sourdough Bread, San Francisco Style Sourdough & a Sandwich Soft Sourdough Bread.  Look for my post in a few weeks with instructions on how to make your own wild yeast & how to make these fabulous healthy breads.  You will find the health information very interesting and see how beautiful and delicious these loaves turn out.

Herbed Cashew Cheese

Printable Recipe

3 cups raw unsalted cashews

1 cup water or less (start with ½ cup and add more as needed)

About 1 tsp probiotic powder (5 capsules, broken open)

Soak the cashews for at least 2 hours and rinse well.  Place cashews in a food processor or blender with the water and the probiotic powder.  Mix until very smooth.  Do not add more water than you need to make smooth. Place the cheese in bowl  with lid and allow to ferment overnight on counter .  In the morning add the following: 

Juice of 1 lemon

2 green onions, white and green parts, chopped

Large handful (about ¾ cup) chopped parsley

1 clove of garlic, minced

2 TBS nutritional yeast flakes

½ tsp sea salt

Cracked black pepper

Mix everything well and place in the refrigerator until ready to use. Use within 5-7 days.

Raw Fresh Tomato Salsa

 PRINTABLE RECIPE

Serves 12

12 medium Roma tomatoes

1 1/2 cups chopped fresh cilantro

1 1/2 cup chopped scallions (add some of the green)

6 Tablespoons lime juice

4 cloves garlic, minced

1 medium jalapeno (remove seeds)

1/2  teaspoon cayenne pepper

1 1/2  tsp. sea salt

3 teaspoons ground cumin

1 1/2 teaspoons ground coriander 

1 tsp. of sweetener of choice (optional)

Combine all ingredients, except tomatoes into a food processor and  process for a few seconds.  Add tomatoes and continue to pulse until you have the consistency you like in salsa.

Spicy Black Bean Lettuce Wraps

I created these delicious lettuce wraps tonight and my 20 year old son ate them all. It was a good thing my husband was out of town because I would have had to come up with something else for dinner. I actually had a few of them and he ate the rest. We loved these.  Next time I am going to double the recipe.

Spicy Lettuce Wraps
Printable Recipe

Serves 4 as an appetizer, or 2 as a main dish:  Ready in 20 minutes

3 Tbsp. Nama Shoyu (Soy Sauce), or Bragg's Liquid Aminos
3 tsp. arrowroot Powder
2 tsp.  sweetener of choice
1 15 oz. can black beans drained
2 Tbsp. extra virgin olive oil
2 Tbsp. chopped fresh ginger
1 Tbsp. chopped garlic
1/2 cup chopped red bell pepper
1/2 tsp. crushed red pepper flakes
1/4 cup finely chopped green onion (about 2 stalks, chop entire piece)
3/4 cup chopped celery
1/4 cup chopped walnuts
3 Tbsp. chopped fresh cilantro
1 Tbsp. sesame oil
1 bunch butter lettuce
Cilantro sprigs and soy sauce, for garnish

1. Combine soy sauce, broth, arrowroot, and sweetener.  Stir until smooth.  Combine sauce with drained black beans and set aside. 

2.  Heat a large deep skillet or wok over medium high heat.  Add olive oil and swirl to coat pan.  Add ginger, garlic, and red bell pepper.  Cook, tossing often, until fragrant but not browned, about 1 minute.  Add chopped onion, sesame oil, cilantro, celery and walnuts. Toss well.

3.  To serve:  Arrange lettuce cups on a large serving platter and place a generous spoonful on each.  Garnish with cilantro sprigs and additional soy sauce to taste.

Enjoy!

Fresh Garden Salsa & Fantastic Refried Beans

My son & daughter-in-law brought over some of their garden tomatoes, peppers, spaghetti squash & yellow squash a few days ago and they were all gorgeous! Their garden is sure doing a lot better than mine this year. I decided to make some homemade salsa and it turned out delicious.  This is my daughter-in-law, Jeni's, foolproof recipe!  It is always a hit whenever she makes it.  Also, for quick and easy, I made some refried beans to go with it.  I made the refried beans from Fantastic World Foods and added 1 tablespoon of my garden salsa & 1 tablespoon of fresh lime juice.  I served it up with some whole grain corn chips. YUMMY!

Fresh Garden Salsa
Printable Recipe

1/4 large white onion
1/4 bell pepper
1-2 cloves of garlic
1/2 lime (You can add the flesh of the lime or just the juice)
1 hot pepper - i.e. Jalapeno or Serrano (you can add whole or half or a combination)
2-3 sprigs of cilantro (you can also use dry cilantro.  About 1/2-1 tsp.)

5 Roma tomatoes
1 tsp. salt

combine first 6 ingredients in a blender/chopper until chopped finely.  Set aside in a bowl. (I do this to ensure the peppers and onions are chopped finely so you don't get a whole mouthful of onion or pepper.) Chop tomatoes and salt in blender/chopper. Combine onion/pepper mixture with tomato mixture.  Mix and serve!!  (Sometimes it is better to make in advance to allow the flavors to meld together for a couple of hours.)