Vegan cheddar cheese
One of the most common things I hear when transitioning to a vegan diet is, “How can I give up cheese?”
Well, what can I say, cheese has totally been veganized. Plenty of recipe creators and chefs have spent time perfecting cheese substitutes.
Apart from dairy being, ‘so out of vogue’, there are also many reasons why you might decide to jump on over to the vegan camp!
Personally, I don’t eat cashews because after living in India, I was turned off by the horrid conditions of cashew workers. I’m sure there are other things I’m contributing to that I’m not aware of, but for now, I’m on the ban cashew everything phase!
Sadly cashews are generally the base ingredient for most vegan cheese, but this wonderful recipe with sunflower seeds started circulating a few years ago. I tweaked it a little to get it to the cheddar cheese taste I love.
Like cashews, sunflower seeds are creamy and rich when blended, and they provide a great backdrop for cheesy flavor additions. Unlike dairy cheese, vegan cheese is easy to digest, cruelty-free, and cholesterol-free.
They also have high nutritional value leading with being Vitamin E rich, as well as full of protective phytonutrients.
Sunflower Cheddar Cheese
Soaking the sunflower seeds overnight helps the cheese to blend smooth and rich. This cheese is great fresh from the blender as a spread, or you can firm it up in the fridge and eat it after a few hours!
I use this cheese regularly on a charcuterie board for festive occasions. Enjoy!
Check out more about sunflower seeds here
Ingredients
2 cups raw sunflower seeds; soaked (1 cup raw)
1/4 cup nutritional yeast
1/4 cup lemon juice
1/4 cup refined coconut oil
4 teaspoons white miso paste
1 teaspoon garlic powder
1 teaspoon smoked paprika
1/2 teaspoon salt (or to taste)
1/2 teaspoon turmeric
instructions
To soften the sunflower seeds:
You will first need to soften the sunflower seeds. Softening them will make them easier to blend and will result in a smoother cheese. You can either boil or soak the seeds overnight.
To boil: put the sunflower seeds in a medium-sized pot and cover them with water. Bring to a boil and continue to boil for 10 - 15 minutes until the sunflower seeds have softened. Drain and rinse before using.
To make vegan sunflower seed cheese:
Add all of the ingredients to a food processor and blend until the mixture is as smooth as possible, stopping to scrape the sides as needed.
Prepare your cheese molds by lining them with parchment paper, or spray oil.
Once the cheese is blended, scoop the cheese mixture into the cheese mold or container.
Cover and chill in the fridge for 4 hours or overnight to let the cheese firm up. The cheese will be firmer and fresh out of the fridge but will soften as it sits out.
NOTES
This vegan cheese will keep well in an air-tight container in the fridge for about a week