You may have read that I’m on a bit of a crazy freak-food diet – no dairy, no gluten, and no sugar, but with a side of extra walking. Two weeks down, two to go!
To be honest, I can’t say that I’ve dropped a heap of weight in the last two weeks, nor have I started to feel miraculously good. But, I am stubborn and will finish my commitment to 4 weeks. Who knows, a motherland of healthy-eating-endorphins could rain down towards the end. And if nothing else, it’s good for a clean out of my body and mind.
One of the more measurable benefits of this diet, however, is that I’m starting to experiment more with unusual ingredients and recipes that previously I would have overlooked. Pre-diet Heike would have seen a recipe for Raw Vegan Nacho Cheeze (yes, with Z), and looked the other way. Freak-food diet Heike, however, saw this recipe and got a bit excited about the thought of something dairy-free tasting remotely like cheese. Turns out, I’m totally addicted to cheese. To anyone who knows me, this might not be a revelation. But I was astonished at my dependence.
Now, don’t freak out. I’m not going to abandon dairy longer term. So, you will soon see a return of recipes involving cheese on this blog. Recipes such as my Roasted Tomato Bruschetta with Goat’s Cheese. I can’t wait until I can eat that one again!
I digress. When I saw Wayfaring Chocolate’s recipe for Raw Vegan Nacho Cheeze, and saw how simple it was to knock up, I raced to the kitchen to give it a go. What did I have to lose? I had all the ingredients in the pantry and, heck, it might just end the rebellion of my cheese cravings.
Ingredients
2 cups (240g) macadamia nuts
1/4 cup (60mls, approx 1 small lemon) lemon juice
1 tablespoon (15ml) coconut aminos (or soy sauce, or tamari)
1 tablespoon (15ml) ground turmeric
2 tablespoons (30ml) smokey hot paprika (or cayenne, if you prefer more of a kick)
1 teaspoon salt
3/4 cup of water (or more depending how saucy you like it)
Stick everything except the water in the food processor and hit wiz (or waz-it-up, as Jamie Oliver seems to always say). Slowly add the water until you hit your desired texture.
Serve with rice crackers and celery and anything else you fancy.
Verdict: Did it taste like cheese? Well, for someone who’s not eating cheese at the moment – yeah – it kinda did. For anyone who does eat glorious cheese though, maybe… not so much. But, I would still recommend it as a great dip to serve with Crudites. Not really cheese… but it tasted good!
I’ve just whipped up a batch of chocolate fudge cupcakes (made of quinoa flour and using xylitol instead of sugar). They look great, but after I’ve run the most important test, the taste test, I’ll see if they are worth sharing with you!
If you liked the look of this recipe, check out these other blog posts featuring macadamia nuts, which I think look great too:
- Cheese please! Hold the dairy. (lifeaftergrains.wordpress.com)
- Don’t Call Them Nuts! (comeawayochildren.wordpress.com)
