Tag Archives | vegan cheese

Nut-based Cream Cheese with Sun-dried Tomatoes, Pesto & Pine Nuts

Plant-based Cream Cheese with Pesto, Sundried Tomatoes and Red onion

I can’t tell you how happy I am that this recipe translates so well to dairy-free. It’s a dish that my cousin (trained Chef and so much more) created and would put out as an appetizer around Christmas time when all of our families would get together. My Mom then started making it because we all loved it so much, so it now tastes, to me, like every fun family occasion.

Plant-based Cream Cheese with Pesto, Sundried Tomatoes and Red onion

I hadn’t thought about it in years, but suddenly it’s all I could think about. It’s a little bit retro now, it was born back when pine nuts were cool and sundried tomatoes were sort of new and fancy and everyone had a jar of those Costco ones in their fridge.

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Vegan Parmesan Cheese

My Mom had a kids clothing store when we were growing up, and beside it was (maybe still is) a cute little Italian deli. Besides the fact that this meant my sisters and I got first crack at the new West Beach sweatshirts, it also meant a humongous, crusty, ciabatta loaf and a fresh block of parmesan cheese with grater joined us for dinner many nights of the week. Thanks Italian deli, it was fun, I’m glad we broke up but I still miss you sometimes.

in the jar parm

This parmesan cheese doesn’t really resemble the mighty king of cheese, Parmigiano Reggiano –I’m not totally delusional. In fact it might be closer to the scary plastic shaker of parmesan that sat in the door of the fridge or at the by-the-slice pizza joint. It is infinitely better for you though, as it is not only dairy-free but it is actually made out of real food. Nuts actually, and seeds, the stuff you are encouraged to add to your meals anyway.

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Vegan Goat Cheese

Do you know what makes it a lot easier to eat a vegetable-heavy, alkaline vegan diet? Cheese. Isn’t that what you are missing deep in your soul each time you enjoy a salad or an Italian style meal? You’re not alone. One of my sisters (the lactose-intolerant one…) is always sending me pictures of dishes she has made using my recipes (which I love, btw), often with the comment ‘except I added some cheese’. In fairness, she lives in a part of the world that people travel to for the cheese alone, but I do think a simple nut-based cheese recipe might be a good thing to have in our back pockets no matter what part of the world we live in.

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Dairy on a whole, whether we are lactose intolerant or not, is high on the list of things to avoid if we are fighting or preventing cancer. For starters, it is often highly processed and full of hormones and antibiotics, which can upset our own hormone balance and digestive health. It is also acid-forming, which is not good when we are striving for an alkaline, disease-free body. I don’t love to stress the negative with ‘bad foods’ and create guilt when you do indulge, because then you’re eating cheese and guilt, which is worse than just cheese. If you are going to have a bit once in a while, make sure it is really good, eat it slowly, sitting down, and enjoy every morsel.

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For the rest of the time (the majority of the time), I have new cheese for you. Faux cheese. Raw, nut-based, vegan cheese. If this sounds about as exciting to you as a toothbrush in your trick-or-treating pillowcase, be prepared for a pleasant surprise.

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