Despite my folks and relatives avoiding most dairy cow products, I love non-vegan cheese. Look, don't get me wrong, "cheese" product made with cashews is fine as a spreadable cheese, but sometimes, you just want to make a gooey grilled cheese sandwich (because it's now autumn and roasted tomato basil soup + grilled cheese sandwiches are delicious), add some cheddar to ramen noodles, or nibble on cheese blocks with cured slices of meat.
Here's what's in a typical plain cashew cheese recipe:
- raw cashews (1 cup cashews = 1 cup of cheese product)
- nutritional yeast (for flavor)
- fresh lemon juice
- garlic powder, black pepper, (optional flavorings)
- salt
Here's what's in a typical cow milk-based cheese recipe:
- whole cow milk (1 gal = 8 oz farmer's cheese)
- fresh lemon juice
- salt, optional
- whole cow's milk
- plain yogurt or active kefir with probiotics
- rennet (to make a firmer cheese)
- animal: stomach lining of young cows, sheep, or goats
- vegetarian: derived from plants such as thistle, nettle, artichokes, figs, or caper leaves
- salt
- butter (dairy milk fat) or lard (rendered pork fat) - used to coat the finished pressed cheese
- unchlorinated water
- raw cashews
- peeled carrots
- water
- tapioca starch
- nutritional yeast
- apple cider vinegar
- salt
- garlic powder
- ground mustard
- ground tumeric (for color)
- dairy cheese: assuming you didn't have to milk the cow and picked up at least a gallon of non- or low pasturized milk from the grocery store; a couple hours for farmer's cheese/ricotta/cream cheese; 3-4 weeks minimum for aged cheddar cheese; mozzarella in less than an hour
- vegan cheese: can be made in 1-2 days (raw cashews need to be pre-soaked)
The other downside to cashew "cheese" is that it has the consistency of chunky cream cheese and is used wherever a 'spread" or the look of the "cheese" in the finished cooked product doesn't matter. E.g., as a substitute for ricotta cheese in lasagna or ravioli, as a sauce or spread used with crackers.
