July 2016 Cooking Class – Cooking with Cashews

Beverages, Cooking Classes, dessert, Greens, Main dish, Salad, Smoothies, , , , , , , , , ,

July 17, 2016

Today’s cooking class focused on quick, easy and delicious company meals sure to please every palette. Summer in Manitoba is short, so you want to enjoy every minute of it. When company arrives, you want to be able to whip up a delicious plant based meal without spending all day in the kitchen. Try out this delicious plant based menu –  Beet Green Smoothie, Fettucine Alfredo, Greek Salad and Cherry Cha Cha dessert.

(Pictures to be added later)

Beet Green Smoothie

Manitoba gardens are bursting with fresh greens. This blueberry beet green smoothie is so delicious they won’t even realize there are greens in it. And it has a lovely purple color.

  • 2 cups beet leaves
  • 2 cups water
  • 1 orange, pealed
  • juice of 1/2 lemon
  • 1 banana, peeled and frozen
  • 1 cup frozen blueberries

Place all ingredients in a blender and blend until smooth.

Greek Salad

  • Red pepper, cored and diced
  • Cherry tomatoes, cut in half
  • Cucumber, diced
  • Red onion, diced
  • Add greens, if desired

Creamy Salad Dressing

  • 1 cup raw cashews
  • 1 cup water
  • 2 – 4 tablespoons lemon juice (I used 4)
  • 3 cloves garlic
  • 2 teaspoons Dijon mustard
  • Salt & Pepper to taste

Soak cashews for at least 2 hours (or overnight). Drain cashews and place in a blender with the remaining ingredients, except salt and pepper. Blend until smooth and creamy. Taste and adjust as desired, add salt, pepper, more lemon. Refrigerate. Will last for several days in the fridge and is great on all kinds of salads. (Note: add a teaspoon or two of vegan Worcestershire sauce and some nutritional yeast to turn it into a Caesar Dressing. Adding ketchup and relish will give you a great Thousand Island)

Cauliflower Alfredo Sauce

  • 2 1/2 cups chunked cauliflower
  • 1 1/2 cups plain unsweetened cashew milk
  • 1/3 cup nutritional yeast
  • 1/3 cup raw cashews
  • 2 clove garlic – chopped
  • Juice of 1 lemon
  • 1 tbsp Dijon mustard
  • Salt and pepper to taste

Soak cashews in water for at least 2 hours or overnight. Drain.

Steam cauliflower until tender.

Transfer cauliflower to a blender.  Add drained cashews, nutritional yeast, garlic, lemon juice, mustard. Blend until the sauce is totally creamy. Taste and adjust as necessary –salt, pepper, lemon juice, garlic, nutritional yeast, etc.

The sauce will thicken as it sits. Thin with water if necessary.

Serve over fettucine pasta and sauted veggies (ewe used red pepper, carrots, mushrooms, onions and peas) for a delicious Fettuccine Alfredo

Cherry Cha Cha or Blueberry Buckle or Peach Perfection

for the filling:

  • 6 cups fresh or frozen fruit (pitted cherries, blueberries, peaches, etc)
  • juice from ½ lemon
  • sweetener (agave, maple syrup, brown rice syrup, honey, sugar), to taste
  • 3 tbsp corn starch (or arrowroot powder)

for the crust:

  • 1 ½ cups almonds
  • ½ cup shredded unsweetened coconut
  • 1 cup packed, pitted Medjool dates
  • 1 tsp vanilla

For the topping

  • 2 cans full fat coconut milk
  • sweetener (maple syrup, agave, brown rice syrup, honey or sugar), to taste
  • 1 tsp vanilla
  • 1 tsp tapioca starch

Place coconut milk cans in the fridge, right side up, for at least 24 hours.

To make filling: place berries in a large saucepan with lemon. Heat over medium heat. Fruit should form its own juice, but add a tablespoon or 2 of water, if necessary at the start to keep it from sticking to the pot. Bring mixtures to a boil. Simmer gently until fruit is tender. Taste the syrup and add sweetener until just sweet enough. Mix corn starch with ¼ cup water in a small bowl until smooth. (Note: need about 1 tbsp corn starch for each 1 cup of liquid. Increase if the fruit is very juicy) Add cornstarch/water mixture to the simmering fruit and cook until thickened. Remove from heat and cool.

To make crust: In a food processor, process almonds with salt until a fine flour forms. Add shredded coconut, dates and vanilla and process until mixture starts to stick together. Press evenly into the bottom of a cake pan or spring form pan. Refrigerate while making the filling.

To make the topping: Open the bottom of the chilled coconut milk with a can opener. Pour off coconut water and save for another use (drink or use in a smoothie in place of water). Open the top of the can with a can opener and scoop out the chilled coconut cream and place in a mixing bowl. Whip coconut cream until smooth. Add vanilla, tapioca starch and just enough sweetener for your taste.  Keep in fridge until ready to use.

To assemble dessert: Spoon chilled filling over crust. Cover filling with coconut cream topping. Sprinkle toast coconut on top. Chill until ready to serve.

July Challenge

Your July cooking challenge – try cooking with cashews.  How about a Cream of Mushroom Soup, Macaroni and Cheez, Creamy Mushroom Gravy or even Cashew CheeseCake?

Your July education challenge – watch Cowspiracy, PlantPure Nation or Forks Over Knives.

 

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