This cucumber sandwich recipe is a vegan take on a refreshing and light snack, bursting with seasonal freshness and so fully satisfying.

Vegan cream cheese acts as a thick and creamy binding element between the sandwich bread, cucumber slices, and fresh mint. The result is a light meal or snack you can feel good about.

If you take a look at the ingredients list on the back of any mainstream cream cheese, you won’t be impressed. Besides its base in pasteurized nonfat milk and milkfat (something about that doesn’t scream real milk to me), regular cream cheese is infused with hard-to-digest whey protein, stabilizers (like xanthan, carob bean, or guar gums), and preservatives (like vitamin A palmitate). Bottom line: you can do better.

The beauty of cashews–the base of this vegan creamy cream cheese–is that when raw, soaked, and blended, they turn into a creamy spread that can take on the flavor profile of just about anything. You are only ever a few add-ins away from an array of diverse dishes, such as a savory cheese, a dense raw cheesecake, or an herb dipping sauce. The possibilities are endless. In this cucumber sandwich recipe, the cashew cream cheese sticks to the theme: vegan and light. It gets a light cheesy flavor from nutritional yeast and a burst of tasty energy from chives. Spread on as thick of a layer of this vegan cream cheese as you’d like – no one’s judging.

The cashew cream cheese recipe makes more than you’ll need for your sandwich, but it is intentionally listed that way so you can keep the extra stored in your fridge for later use throughout the week. Whenever you crave cheese or anything dense, reach for the cashew cream cheese and use it as a dip, spread, or sauce. Enjoy!

Cucumber Sandwiches With Vegan Cream Cheese and Fresh Mint

Serves 1

Ingredients

For the sandwich

• 2 slices of whole grain bread, toasted
• 2 tablespoons of cashew cream cheese (recipe below)
• 8 cucumber slices
• Dash of salt
• Dash of pepper
• 1 scallion, finely chopped
• A few fresh mint leaves

For the cashew cream cheese

• 1 cup raw cashews, soaked, drained, and rinsed
• 2 tablespoons nutritional yeast
• Juice of 1 lemon
• 1 tablespoon chopped chives (optional)

Directions

For the cashew cream cheese, soak the raw cashews in water overnight. Drain and rinse before using. Add the soaked cashews to a food processor or high-speed blender along with the remaining cream cheese ingredients. Blend until smooth. Store in an airtight container in the refrigerator until needed.

For the sandwich, spread one side of each toasted bread slice with one tablespoon of the cashew cream cheese. Sprinkle atop each cream cheese layer with scallions. Arrange a single layer of the cucumber slices over one of the bread slices. Sprinkle the cucumber slices with salt and pepper and then finish it off with a layer of fresh mint. Place the other bread slice over the cucumber bread. Slice in half and eat!

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The following 3 vegan cheese recipes are light alternatives to regular dairy cheese as well as heavy nut-based cheese.

It’s easy to buy into the vegan cheese craze, which takes the beloved cheese-noshing experience and reimagines it so that you not only get to have your cheese but save a few cows along the way, too. Vegan cheese is marketed to be healthier and more body friendly than regular dairy cheese. However, just because its vegan doesn’t mean it’s necessarily doing your body any favors, especially if it’s based in caloric nuts. Luckily, you can whip up a truly light, pure, plant-based cheese in the comfort of your own kitchen and can eat as much as you want. These 3 vegan cheese recipes demonstrate just how easy it is to be persuaded to pursue a plant-based lifestyle.

White Cheese Whip Party Dip

Servings vary

Ingredients

• 1 head cauliflower
• 2 tablespoons Earth Balance butter
• 2 teaspoons mustard
• ½ teaspoon sea salt
• 2 tablespoons nutritional yeast

Directions

In a large pot over medium-high heat, bring water to a boil. While the water heats up, take the cauliflower and remove its leaves and tough stems. Once the water is boiling, add the cauliflower to the pot. Reduce heat to a simmer and cook for about 10-15 minutes, or until the cauliflower is tender throughout, but not so soft that it breaks upon being touched. Drain the water and rinse the cauliflower with cold water.

Add the cauliflower to a food processor along with the remaining ingredients. Blend until smooth.

Serve in a dip bowl and serve with vegetable crudités or chips.

Creamy Cheddar Cheese

Servings vary

Ingredients

• ½ baked sweet potato, skin removed
• ¼ teaspoon mustard
• Juice of half a lemon
• 1 tablespoon nutritional yeast
• 1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
• ¼ teaspoon garlic powder
• Dash of salt
• Dash of black pepper

Directions

Blend all the ingredients together in a food processor until smooth. Mix into cooked noodles or use as a cheese topping for vegan nachos.

Firm Peppery Cheddar Cheese

Servings vary

Ingredients

• 2 cups + 1 1/3 cups water
• 1 cup oats
• 1 cup cooked sweet potato
• ½ cup nutritional yeast
• 1 tablespoon smoked paprika
• 1 tablespoons sea salt
• ½ teaspoon white pepper
• 1 teaspoon onion powder
• 1 teaspoon garlic powder
• 2 tablespoon lemon juice
• 1 tablespoon agar agar powder

Directions

Blend until smooth the 2 cups water with oats, sweet potato, nutritional yeast, paprika, salt, white pepper, onion powder, garlic powder, and lemon juice.

In a medium saucepan over medium-high heat, add 1 1/3 cups water and agar agar powder. Once the mixture is boiling, reduce heat to a simmer and continue to stir until the mixture has a thick consistency.

Add the agar agar mixture to the blender with the other ingredients and blend until well combined.

Scoop the mixture into desired shaped moulds and place in the refrigerator to set. The cheese should be firm after about 30 minutes. Remove from moulds and serve with vegetable crudités, chips, or toasted pita bread. You can also grate this cheese over soups, salads, pizza, or cooked veggies.

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Almond and Dill Vegan Cheese Recipe

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Cheddar Cheese Grated Image from Shutterstock

The post The Alternative to the Alternative: 3 Nut-Free Vegan Cheese Recipes appeared first on EcoSalon.

The secret is out: you don’t need dairy to make delicious, crave-worthy cheese. So many vegan cheese recipes are easy enough to tackle in the comfort of your home kitchen, and all they require is a bit of foresight (and a powerful blender or food processor).

The following vegan almond and dill cheese recipe is a savory and fragrant version of vegan cheese that combines the healthy fats and fiber inherent in almonds with the tartness of lemon and vinegar, the natural sweetness of maple syrup, and the uncanny cheesiness of nutritional yeast. The result is a cheese spread that is a great go-to dish for when you want to indulge in the density and flavors of cheese without the dairy.

While this vegan cheese recipe calls for dill, you aren’t limited to the herb. You can significantly alter the recipe’s flavor profile by changing up the herb component – try rosemary, thyme, or marjoram for a change and see what suits your fancy.

Baking means that this vegan cheese recipe is not raw. However, you can skip the straining and baking step and just enjoy the cheese as it is after blended. It will be considerably thinner and thus be best featured as a dip or spread. However you have it, you won’t be disappointed!

Vegan Almond and Dill Cheese Recipe

Serves 4

Ingredients

• 1 cup almonds
• Juice of 1 lemon
• 1 tablespoon apple cider vinegar
• 2 garlic cloves
• 1/4 cup nutritional yeast
• 1 teaspoon maple syrup
• Dash of sea salt
• Dash of black pepper
• Handful of fresh dill

Directions

Soak the almonds overnight in water. The next day, drain and rinse them and place them into a food processor. Add in the lemon, vinegar, garlic, nutritional yeast, syrup, salt, and pepper. Blend until smooth. You may have to add 1-4 tablespoons of water in order to blend the mixture properly until smooth and creamy. Add the dill and then pulse 2-3 times, just enough to distribute the dill evenly but not completely break the dill up so that the mixture turns green.

Pour the mixture into a cheese cloth and place the cheese cloth into a strainer that is set over a bowl, which will collect any water that drips from the almond mixture. Place in the fridge. Let it sit there for at least 8 hours.

Preheat the oven to 300 degrees Fahrenheit. Shape the mixture into 2-3 balls and place onto a parchment paper-lined baking sheet that is lightly greased with olive oil. Flatten the top lightly.

Bake for 25-30 minutes, or until the surface of the rounds are golden brown.

Serve hot with toasted pita bread or vegetable crudites.

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 Almonds in Brown Bowl Image from Shutterstock

The post Almond and Dill Vegan Cheese Recipe appeared first on EcoSalon.

This week in Link Love we’re smitten with a pizza box composting program, Paris Fashion Week, a new vegan cheese shop in LA, skincare recipes for the season and goofy white people.

College campuses around the U.S. have started composting their pizza boxes with The Pizza Box Project and diverting hundreds of tons of waste from landfills in the process. [via Eat Drink Better]

The 10 best street style photos of Paris Fashion Week [via Vogue]

A vegan cheese shop in LA! Drool. [via Eater]

 7 DIY skincare recipes for keeping your skin healthy this fall. [via Organic Authority]

White people try their interpretations of Nicki Minaj’s “Anaconda.” It’s awkward! [via Paper]

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image via Vogue

The post Link Love: Gorgeous Paris Fashion Week + Vegan Cheese Shop + DIY Skincare Recipes appeared first on EcoSalon.

The following vegan Parmesan cheese recipe let’s you have your taste and your figure!

Parmesan cheese has a strong salty taste and a dense, chew-worthy texture, so it is not the kind of cheese you are eating in excess at any given moment. However, it adds so much to salads, cooked vegetables, lasagna, and eggplant Parmesan, that is it worth taking another look at to see where you can make healthy changes. Because, let’s face it, we all want to add more Parmesan cheese than appropriate.

If you assess regular Parmesan cheese, otherwise known as Parmigiano-Reggiano, you will see that it doesn’t offend your health too much, because it is often used in small quantities. But if you love cheese, what starts as a sprinkle soon turns into an avalanche.

In one ounce of Parmesan cheese, there are 122 calories, 8 grams of fat, 5 grams of saturated fat, 433 mg of sodium and 25 mg of cholesterol. While the same serving does provide 11 grams of protein and 31 percent of the RDA of calcium, these facts are overshadowed by the fact that such nutrition comes from an animal source and is often compromised during processing.

In addition to being dairy-based, regular grated Parmesan cheese brands often include cellulose powder to prevent caking and potassium sorbate to protect flavor, making the cheese not as natural and “real” as its simplicity would argue.

To remedy this situation, given my love for grated Parmesan, I decided to make my own vegan version. The result is a divine vegan Parmesan cheese with lots of flavor, texture and bulk. The walnuts give great texture and the nutritional yeast provides that iconic cheesy taste. The olive oil marries the flavors together while the salt keeps the vegan Parmesan cheese savory. Enjoy!

Vegan Parmesan Cheese

Makes about 1/2 cup

Ingredients

• 1/2 cup walnuts
• 1 tablespoon nutritional yeast
• 1 teaspoon olive oil
• Dash of salt

Directions

In a food processor, blend the walnuts for a few second, or until grainy. Add the remaining ingredients and pulse a few times until evenly combined but still textured. Store in an airtight container in the fridge until use.

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Photo Credit: THOR

The post Vegan Parmesan Cheese Recipe: A Step Up from its Dairy-Based Counterpart appeared first on EcoSalon.

Nutritional yeast (aka “nooch”) is a mystery to me. I’ve been using it for years and I’ve researched about its origin quite thoroughly, but somehow, I still don’t get it. Meanwhile, I carry on, luxuriating in the taste it adds to many a meal as well as its apparent nutritional properties.

When something this good and this useful exists, I simply can’t get enough. If you want to know how to take your dishes from zero to hero, just turn to nutritional yeast!

Nutritional yeast is a deactivated yeast that is sold in flake form. It is produced through culturing a yeast in a nutrient medium for a few days, using glucose, sugar or beet molasses to help grow it, and then deactivating it with heat. It is then harvested, washed, dried and packaged. Still don’t get it? Me neither. I find it very hard to visualize the process and fathom all the chemical reactions therein, but it sounds quite simple and straight-forward enough.

The result is a flaky condiment that offers a cheesy overtone to some of my favorite dishes. Because it is deactivated, it won’t ferment in your tummy or make you bloated. Instead, it will offer you B-vitamins and an excellent source of thiamin, riboflavin, niacin, B6, B12 and folic acid. It also packs in fiber and protein. Just 1 1/2 tablespoons offers your 8 grams of protein and 4 grams of dietary fiber, all in just 60 calories of flakes. If you are vegan or vegetarian, or simply looking to avoid dairy in general, nutritional comes in handy. For me, it is godsend good. The best part is that you don’t need to use more than 2 tablespoons at a time – it spreads itself thin, both in taste and nutrition.

Of course, it’s application is limited given its texture. It’s no block of cheese and is by no means able to star in a dish. Instead, it’s meant to offer a cheesy taste to the main player. For example, if you’ve made a bean dip or chili and don’t want to melt in cheddar cheese, add a tablespoon or two of nutritional yeast instead. Due to its texture and sensitivity, when it comes in contact with a liquid and heat, it breaks down and gives a bit of thickness, disappearing in the dish and leaving behind flavor, not flaky chunks. You can look at nutritional yeast in the way you do store-bought fine-grated Parmesan, in fact. I also like to add nutritional yeast to salads, soups, and creams.

Here are three of my favorite ways to use nutritional yeast:

1. Cheesy Popcorn

Your popcorn is freshly popped and all you need is something to boost the snacking experience. Sprinkle nutritional yeast along with garlic powder over hot popcorn. Mix until evenly coated. Enjoy the cheesy popcorn delight, but without the cheese.

2. Creamy “Cheese”

This is perhaps how I use nutritional yeast the most – as an ingredient in vegan cheese. I take a cooked vegetable, bean or legume base, such as cauliflower, broccoli, white beans, chickpeas or lentils, and I mix in a few other ingredients to cut any dominant flavor. Nutritional yeast adds the last necessary cheesy flavor. Check out my recipe for Vegan White Cheese Party Dip. It’s a winning appetizer among my friends.

3. Mac & Cheese

Need I say more? Macaroni and cheese can be delicious and vegan at the same time. Nutritional yeast really brings this recipe home. The version I make mixes noodles into a sweet potato mash that is accented by nutritional yeast, creating both a orange color and a cheddar-like flavor. Print out a written-out version of this recipe.

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Image Credit: mlinksva

The post 3 Ways Nutritional Yeast Takes Dishes From Zero to Hero appeared first on EcoSalon.

An ooey gooey cheesy gratin does not have to curb your diet and overall health. With an emphasis on flavorful, water-packed vegetables and a few substitutions, you can get the comfort you crave in this vegan leek and zucchini gratin recipe, bite after bite.

This cheesy vegan leek and zucchini gratin recipe is a delicious and easy approach to health cooking while still satisfying the warmth an evening meal usually demands. The vegan cheese, which is widely available, adds just the right texture and flavor without the burden of hard-to-digest dairy. So take your gratin recipe to the next level — the more conscious level — with these healthy twists.

Leeks are a great way to get the wholesome nutrition you need in a flavorful and aromatic food. Leeks reduce LDL (bad) cholesterol and fight colon and prostate cancer with their carcinogen-fighting quercetin content. They also contain protective antioxidants, prevent aging, lower blood pressure, pack very few calories, cleanse the blood, and heal wounds.

Zucchini is also a showstopper when it comes to your health. Low in calories, with just 36 per cup, zucchini also helps to digest fat in your body, promote proper digestion, lower blood pressure and prevent heart attacks.

Cheesy Vegan Leek and Zucchini Gratin Recipe

Serves 2-3

Ingredients

• 1 large leek
• 1 large zucchini
• 1 large summer squash
• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 1/2 teaspoon sea salt
• 1/4 teaspoon pepper
• 1 teaspoon dried thyme
• 1/4 teaspoon garlic powder
• 1/2 cup shredded vegan cheese (Daiya works well)

Directions

Preheat the oven to 425 degrees Fahrenheit. Chop and rinse the leeks. Chop the zucchini and yellow squash into the same size as the leeks. In a large bowl, toss together the leeks, zucchini and squash with olive oil, salt, pepper, thyme, and garlic powder.

Place the vegetables into a baking dish and top with shredded cheese. Let cook in the oven for 30-35 minutes.

Photo Credit: GlowKitchen

The post Cheesy Vegan Leek and Zucchini Gratin Recipe appeared first on EcoSalon.

It’s the Holy Grail of vegan food. To create a passable vegan cheese is more than just an art, it’s practically a miracle.

If you’ve eaten a vegan diet for any length of time, you’ve seen the vegan cheese industry bubble and melt with all kinds of incarnations. At first, we were lucky to have Tofutti’s cream cheese-like spread. Nevermind that it’s loaded with hydrogenated oils and GMO ingredients. We took what we could get. There was VeganRella and Soya Kaas (which isn’t technically vegan—it contains casein). And who can forget the rice cheese singles that offered as much of the shivers as a traditional slice of American cheese itself? You could just feel the oils congealing somewhere along your spine. Ew. We tried tricks like covering up pizzas for the last few minutes of cooking so the steam would “melt” the rubbery substances we’d hoped would give us the stretchy goo we craved without the guilt we couldn’t stand. We used microwaves and flame torches in hopes of shreds disappearing into a clotted sea of soy, oil and “flavoring.”

While many vegan mock meats can effectively mimic taste and texture rather well (the biggest complaint I hear is that vegan meats are drier than animal products, but otherwise taste just like the real thing), cheese has long left us lacking. But, quite a few companies are getting close to perfection.

The darling of dairy-free cheese right now is Daiya (pronounced “day-uh”). The tapioca-based vegan cheese has true meltability that’s swayed the toughest vegans and even some dairy eaters too. But with melting comes consequences: While boasting some non-GMO ingredients—and being soy-free—the Daiya shreds are loaded with oils (including canola), “natural flavors” and stabilizers. But it melts. And vegans who miss cheese say it’s the best stuff ever (this vegan steers clear of the stuff. Always gives me an upset stomach).

Follow Your Heart and Teese brands are also receiving praises for their meltable vegan cheeses, but Daiya has virtually cornered the market—partnering with other brands (Amy’s and Tofurky use it on their frozen pizzas), food service distributors and top restaurants are all on the Daiya train, too.

Now, several brands are working on developing “finer” cheeses. Leaving the pizza and melting to the aforementioned brands, these aged vegan cheeses encourage you to tear off a hunk of baguette, say something French and crack open a bottle of expensive wine. One such brand is Kite Hill, formulated with chef Tal Ronnen. I tried these nut-based cheeses recently at his Los Angeles Crossroads restaurant. Served on a cheese plate with warm bread, jam, fruits and nuts, I realized it was the first time in my adult life I’ve ever eaten anything called a “cheese plate.” How refreshing. While the options I tried all lacked the bite of truly aged cheese, they were delicious nonetheless, and satisfied a hankering for hard cheese that I hadn’t realized I’d had.

But the true winner in the aged fine cheese category goes to a small Brooklyn-based brand called Dr. Cow. They naturally ferment their nut-based cheeses with acidophilus, which gives them a tang and texture that will be familiar to dairy cheese eaters. If you’re in Los Angeles, you can find them at Erewhon on Beverly Blvd. And be prepared to blink at the prices: nothing under $10 for a hunk the size of an apricot. But well worth the spend. The ingredients are impeccably clean as well: nuts, salt, acidophilus and some added flavors like kale or dulse. Truly delicious.

Similar to how the vegan mock-meat market exploded over the last decade (and has seemed to taper off with no noteworthy newcomers in years), it’s a pretty good guess that we’ll see more than a few more innovations and trends in vegan cheeses. And just like you can rather easily make your own veggie burgers from scratch, with a little effort, you can make your own vegan cheeses from scratch, too, using nuts and seeds (and never discount the myriad uses of nutritional yeast!). While they won’t get the melt of the highly processed stuff, they’ll certainly give you flavor—and a healthier option as well.

What is our obsession with melty, gooey cheese, anyway? I’ve spent more than a healthy bit of time fixating on this. One opinion is that there’s a chemical in cow’s milk to help “addict” the baby cows so they make sure to eat. When it’s made into cheese, it  becomes more concentrated, and the reason we crave the stuff is the opiate-like effect it appears to have on humans. (How many times have you heard “I’d go vegan, but I just can’t give up cheese!”) If that’s true, it could explain our pursuit of a vegan cheese that tastes and melts just like the stuff we’re eschewing for ethical reasons. But vegans don’t pursue faux animal bones in mock meats. We don’t seek out gristle or other components to meat products. Should we be agonizing over cheese that melts—especially if it means ingesting highly processed factory-made options?

I suppose like mock meats, it is a step in the right direction of a greater food consciousness. While I prefer a sprinkle of nutritional yeast on an otherwise cheeseless pizza, here’s hoping we melt our way into a more ethical and humane future.

Keep in touch with Jill on Twitter @jillettinger

Image courtesy of Kite Hill

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