Living Vegan For Dummies - Alexandra Jamieson [72]
Look online or ask your natural food store manager for the following varieties of cheese: Dr. Cow’s Tree Nut Cheese, Follow Your Heart cheese, Galaxy’s Vegan Rice slices, and Teese Vegan Cheese.
Remember to read the label on “fake” cheeses carefully. If a cheese contains casein, a protein found in cow’s milk, it may be lactose free, but it isn’t vegan.
A cheesy flavor and texture can be created without the processed “fake” cheeses that you find on store shelves. The ingredients in the following sections can either add a rich, savory flavor, like with nutritional yeast and miso, or a gooey texture to dishes like with mochi. These ingredients appeal to people who prefer to use less processed foods, and they each also offer their own special nutritional benefits.
Nutritional yeast
Nutritional yeast is a marvelous addition to converted recipes as well as an excellent condiment for your kitchen table. Made from inactive dry yeast, Red Star vegan nutritional yeast is loaded with protein and B vitamins, including B12. These savory, cheesy flakes can be sprinkled liberally on pasta, steamed veggies, salads, and soups instead of Parmesan cheese. Great for creating a cheesy, rich flavor, nutritional yeast is common in vegan cooking for converting recipes like macaroni and cheese and creamy sauces. (You can find a recipe for Mac n’ TeaseCheese in Chapter 14.)
Miso
Another excellent soy food is miso. A fermented soybean paste rich in protein and digestive enzymes, miso can help add a savory, cheese-like taste to soups, salad dressings, and marinades. It also can be used in place of Worcestershire sauce, salt, and soy sauce. The Tofu Cheese recipe in Chapter 13 is made with miso paste.
Miso paste is considered one of the most powerful soy foods in terms of its medicinal properties. Miso has been used to diminish the effects of smoking, air pollution, and radiation.
Miso soup is familiar to a lot of people because of the growing popularity of sushi restaurants. This rich vegetable and tofu broth is flavored with miso paste. Be careful, though: Most sushi restaurants also use bonito, or dried fish flakes, in their miso soups. You can easily make your own at home by simply adding a slurry of whisked miso paste and water into cooked vegetable soup. Because the soybean enzymes are delicate and can taste bitter when boiled, miso shouldn’t be boiled. Instead, you should stir it into the soup at the end of cooking.
Mochi
Sometimes vegans miss the creamy, gooey, and sticky nature of cheese. These textures aren’t always easy to find in the fruit and vegetable world. Enter mochi. A traditional Japanese food made from pounded glutinous rice that’s formed into cakes, mochi is a favorite New Year’s food in Japan and a year-round snack in Hawaii.
While mochi can be made at home, it takes a lot of time and a lot of muscle. The pounding process can take a few hours. Luckily, cakes of plain, naturally sweetened, and savory flavored mochi can be found in the refrigerator section of your natural food store.
Mochi can be used in the following ways:
Grated or chopped very finely and sprinkled on steaming vegetables: The mochi will melt on the vegetables like cheese.
Grated and added to sauces for pizza or pasta: Again, the mochi will melt and become creamy.
Cubed into 1-inch squares and then baked at 450 degrees for 10 minutes or until the squares puff up and brown slightly: Top the mochi with nut butter and jam; dip in a mixture of soy sauce, agave, and grated ginger; or slather with vegan butter and maple syrup.
Made into mochi cheese: Dice 8 ounces of mochi and simmer it in a small saucepan with just enough water to cover. Stir regularly until the mochi melts. Season with a little soy sauce, umeboshi vinegar, and a variety of herbs suited for your recipe. Use a combination