Hemp Seed and Cashew Cheese

Egg noodles with butter, paprika, and hemp seed ricotta

Last week I made rejuvelac by soaking sprouted rye berries in water for one day. I made some very delicious crackers with the leftover rye berries and this week I finally made the cheese-like spread for which all these preparations were intended. Sprouting the rye berries and making the rejuvelac takes several days, but you can also buy it in some health food stores, and once you have some, making the cheese is fairly straightforward. The cheese I prepared is based on the recipe for cashew cheese in Raw, by Charlie Trotter and Roxanne Klein, a book which is endlessly interesting, even if you think, as I did, that you will never be tempted to try any of these crazy things. I say this was worth the effort, especially since I now have plenty of rejuvelac to use for some other vegan cheese recipes. Rejuvelac itself is gluten-free, even though it is made with rye, but you can make it with sprouted rice or quinoa to be on the safe side.

Hemp Seed and Cashew Cheese

1 ½ cups hemp seeds

1 ½ cups cashew pieces

¼ cup rejuvelac

½ teaspoon salt

Place the cashews and hemp seeds in a saucepan and bring to the boil. Boil for twenty minutes and allow them to cool to room temperature in the water (If you wish to make this an all-raw recipe, simply soak the nuts and seeds overnight). Grind the nuts and seeds with the rejuvelac and salt in a blender or processor (I used my champion juicer). Place the cheese in a strainer with two layers of cheesecloth and allow it to drain several hours or overnight. Refrigerate overnight.

I am in general very skeptical about trying to imitate foods, but this is great stuff. So far, everyone who has tried this has loved it, and not all of us are vegans by any means.

See Melissa’s roundup of Weekend Herb Blogging at Cooking Diva.

Food and Drink, Recipes, Cooking, Food, whb, Weekend Herb Blogging,
antioxidant-rich foods