It tastes like cheese!

[Willowriver]

Let me preface this with saying that I've been vegan for over 2 years now, and I think my cravings for cheese died out long ago. Now apparently, that doesn't mean I still wouldn't appreciate the taste occasionally. I've mostly stayed away from cheese substitutions because the bland ones tend to just taste like tofu and the "sharp" ones tend to taste like feet. I occasionally indulge in Tofutti cream cheese, but it's really processed and I think it makes me sick when I eat very much, plus it has that soy aftertaste. (Seriously, if I were going to make a plant-based cheese, I don't think my first thought would be a relatively non-fatty bean, but that's just me.)

ANYways, I was browsing some raw food websites the other day, and I ran across this:
http://thesunnyrawkitchen.blogspot.com/2008/04/not-cheeze-pleaze.html
I more or less followed the recipe (except the rejuvelac - I used water), and added garlic powder, nutritional yeast, onion powder, salt, and dill (I used to be addicted to dill havarti). And OMG it tastes like cheese!!! It's like the best fancy herbed party cheese ever! I just put a bunch on a dried pear ... :D
Plus it's healthy(ish)! Full of lovely probiotics.

I also made sweet "cream cheese" with the other half of the batch by adding agave and a little nutmeg. It turned out like a good cream cheese-type spread.

Just thought I should share, for those of you who, like me, wish pre-made vegan cheeses didn't all taste funky.

I'll report back with how much it actually tastes like cheese once I find an omnivore willing to try my concoction.

[usmcmom]

I will have to give this a try...THANKS for sharing

[cstadt]

I've never soaked anything before but ahh that looks so cool!

[eistxist]

Awesome, thanks for posting! :]

I have a huge bag of raw cashews that I've been wanting to do something with. Haha.

[brazilnut]

Looks yummy!

[*AHIMSA*]

Yeah, cashew cheese is the bomb-diggity.

[beepbeeplove]

Wow :) thanks for sharing!
the finished picture looks a bit like off hummus though lol.

[Miso Jace]

brilliant! thanks for sharing!

[Jon_Veggie]

Amazing link, thanks Willowriver. Those cheeses look delicious, I can't wait to try out some of the recipes :)

[froggythefrog]

I so want to try this too!

[caliveg]

Wow, those "cheeses" look delicious...I have to try them. Thanks for sharing this :)

[Jon_Veggie]

Am I right in thinking that you can use *either* rejuvelac or probiotics? I ask this as I have no idea where to get probiotics, whereas rejuvelac seems reasonably simple to make.

[Willowriver]

Am I right in thinking that you can use *either* rejuvelac or probiotics? I ask this as I have no idea where to get probiotics, whereas rejuvelac seems reasonably simple to make.

I was assuming it meant both or just the probiotics. However, every other similar recipe I've seen just uses the rejuvilac. I'm assuming the probiotics are for lazy people like me who either can't remember to change sprouting water every few hours or don't trust the finished rejuvilac to have the correct bacteria.
Little tip: every drug store or supermarket I've seen has probiotics in the digestive health section (lol right next to the Immodium, I'd assume). Whether these are vegan or not, I couldn't say. The good quality ones seem to be health food store only products, and they're in the refrigerated section. Mine are acidophilus tablets.

[Willowriver]

I mentioned that I'd update once I'd found a victim to try my concoction who actually remembers what cheese tastes like. I made my bf try it the other day. (Yeah, this stuff keeps pretty darned well. It's almost gone and shows no signs of spoiling.) His response was, "It's really good. If someone told me, 'Hey, here's some new type of cheese you haven't had before,' I'd believe them 100%, but it doesn't taste like any specific type of cheese I've tried." Then he went on to shovel more onto his rice cake and into his mouth, so he wasn't lying about thinking it tasted good.

So there's the review. Mileage may vary depending on spices and such.

[ReaganNC]

I made this last week. I made a garlic-dill flavor and an herb Cheeze. I prefer the garlic dill, but both are quite good. I think I'll try a different herb blend the next time I try an herb cheeze.

[Willowriver]

Okay okay, final update ... probably. I made another base batch. Part of the new batch became a personal-sized raw chocolate cheesecake and part became ranch dressing. The rest I left as a basic non-herbed cheese. I was honestly just having a ball throwing stuff together on a whim. I got the bf to try the cheesecake, and his exact words were, "Wow, I've never had dark chocolate cheesecake, but if I did, I'd imagine this is what it would taste like." So it passes the test with flying colors. Just wanted to point out the sheer versatility of this recipe. I'm still enamored with it.

[broccolichick]

All those 'cheeze' sauces have nuts in them, argggghhhh...