Friday, April 3, 2009

raw veggie wraps w/ almond cheese

one of the reasons i didn't transition to veganism earlier in life is that i really loved cheese. plus, as an ovo-lacto veg, cheese was one of the bigger staples in my diet. however, in my research of a raw-foods diet, i came across several different nut cheese recipes and gave them a shot. to my delight, most of them were delicious. and i mean delicious in a gourmet-cheese type of way. the almond cheese recipe below is one i came up with from experimenting with several different recipes.

  • 1/2 zucchini
  • 1/2 cucumber
  • 2 carrots, peeled
  • 2 tablespoons bragg's aminos
  • 1 ½ teaspoons dulse flakes
  • 1 small garlic clove, minced
  • 1/2 avocado
  • several large lettuce leaves
for the almond cheese:
  • 1/4 cup untoasted almonds
  • 1 tablespoon tahini
  • 1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
  • 1/2 tablespoon cold press olive oil
slice zucchini, cucumber and carrots into thin spears. lay on a plate or shallow dish, and marinate them in the braggs, garlic and dulse flakes for several hours. if you don't have bragg's, you could substitute low sodium soy or nama shoyu cut with a little water. flip occasionally.

meanwhile, soak the almonds in water at room temperature. after about 5 or 6 hours, drain and blend in a magic bullet or food processor with tahini, lemon juice and olive oil. this will be a thick spreadable cheese, but if you need to thin, just add a teaspoon of water and re-blend. spread cheese on a lettuce leaf and fill with the marinated veggies. add a slice or two of avocado and wrap up.

this recipe makes enough for about 3-4 lettuce wraps.

15 comments:

Anonymous said...

The almond cheese sound excellent! This is something my family would really love as we love nuts and almonds in particular!

veggie belly said...

very nicely done! i just saw vegan nut cheeses on the latest vegetarian times! your cheese sounds great :)

AnuSriram said...

Excellent! Looks lovely!

Amy said...

Mmm yum! It looks fantastic!

DJ Karma said...

Mixing the almonds with tahini sounds really good!

Jen Treehugger said...

Mmmm yummy. This sounds so good.

joanna said...

i give you so much credit for making your own!! i am soo damn lazy when it comes to this stuff. i spend $5 on a little container of these and yours probably taste so much better.

Anonymous said...

Ooooohhhh, almond cheese! You know I'm going to try this! Right on!

veggievixen said...

mmm almond cheese! these look super tasty.

Kiki Danger said...

seeing as how i love cheese so much, and it's one of the reason i couldn't see myself as a vegan, when are you going to try and convert me? cause this sounds delish!

A_and_N said...

You got it right on the money when you talked abt not being able to give up cheese while converting into veganism :) But its really amazing to observe the way Vegans substitute every imaginable craving with something equally delicious....great job :)

allularpunk said...

i've never had an almond cheese before! this sounds yummy :)

Lauren said...

Yum!! I've never been a cheese fan, but I find raw cheeses to be the best! :) Mmmm!

Anonymous said...

Hey, i myself am not a vegan or vegitarian, but i tend to cook alot for people who can not eat dairy products which has lead me on a path of discover with possible replacements. I am looking at making a potato lasgne, however it requires three kinds of cheese,parmasen,monzerella and a cream cheese. i asume by the way you described this that it is most like a cream cheese? Do you have any recipes that i could replace the other two cheeses with? It cant have soy in it which rules out soy cheese and tofu.

Anonymous said...

Thank you very much for this recipes, especially for the almond cheese!
Blessings.