Thursday, March 29, 2012

A Vegan's Best Friend: Cashew Cream

A few days into my Vegan Challenge, in the course of just a few hours, I had an email from both my mother-in-law and a college friend encouraging me to check out this book:


I took this as a sign, so I picked up a copy of the cookbook and found a recipe inside that has significantly curbed my dairy cravings: Cashew Cream

Cashew Cream is the easiest recipe you've never (I'm betting) made. All it requires is water and raw cashews, but the resulting pureed cream is pretty darn close to heavy cream, but without all the dairy and saturated fat.

I've been using the cream in all sorts of applications, but my favorite is my Spring Risotto, which I made vegan last night. SPH responded when he tasted it,

"Is this vegan? It's fantastic!"



Woo hoo! A vegan victory for the whole family. Thanks Chef Ronnen.

Cashew Cream

Raw Cashews (preferably whole, but I've used pieces and they work good too)
Water

Cover the cashews with water. Place in the refrigerator overnight or up to 24 hours.


Pour the cashews and water into a blender. Process until creamy, scraping the sides if necessary.

Unless you have a super-powerful blender (ie, a Vitamix) you will want to strain the cream through a fine sieve.


Voila! Cashew Cream ready to be seasoned or used just plain as it is.


I've found myself drizzling it onto risotto, using it as a base for dressings or sauces, and even on my pizza instead of cheese.

Like I said, it's a vegan's best friend, especially if that vegan happens to lust after dairy like a fool (I resemble that remark).

Life is sweet,
SPC

5 comments:

Cat said...

Cashew cream is awesome - and the uses for it really are endless. Kudos on taking on the vegan challenge! It's not easy to change but secret magical vegan ingredients can help. :)

Sweet Pea Chef said...

Thanks Cat for the kind words!

Unknown said...

Any suggestions on a starting quantity for the cashew/water combo that would equal one cup finished cream? I'd like to try using the cashew cream in a quiche recipe that calls for 1 1/2 cups heavy cream, but I don't know how many cashews to buy.

Sweet Pea Chef said...

If you get 1 cup of raw cashews, you should be fine. Better yet, I can run some over tomorrow…we have a big bag at home. Just text me if you want some. :)

Erlinda Kaes said...

My husband and I have been having lots of problems living together, he never gives me attention or makes me happy because he has fallen in love with another woman outside our marriage. I tried my best to make sure that my husband leaves this woman but the more I talk to him about it the more he makes me feel sad and unhappy, My marriage started leading to divorce because he no longer gives me attention. I wanted to forget him but i love him and didn't want to lose him. We have been married for years and he is all I could call a true best friend and best in all, the man that handles my problems perfectly, the man that makes sacrifices for ,my happiness. I wanted him back in my life badly and I was so confused. My Friends told me to buy books about relationships, so I went online for relationship books while I came across a spell caster called Dr Emu. I read testimonies and reviews about him so I contacted him immediately, explained my problems to him. Same day , he casted a spell for me and assured me for 2 days that my husband will return to me and to my greatest surprise the third day my husband came knocking on my door and begged for forgiveness. I am so happy that my love is back again and not only that, we are about to get married again, he proposed. I wouldn't stop talking about him. Contact him today if you need his help via email: emutemple@gmail.com and you will see that your problem will be solved without any delay. Website: https://emutemple.wordpress.com/