Cheese spread in the shape of a ball is truly an American party classic but let’s be honest, it is also pretty fattening and artery-clogging! It is a great appetizer everyone enjoys around the holidays, at potlucks and picnics. What if you could make a dairy-free cheese ball? Warning! This ‘cheez’ ball will disappear as soon as it is served so make sure to make a double batch if you have a big crowd! You get all the flavors and none of the guilt because this version has no saturated fat or cholesterol. So you can have your cheese ball and eat it too! Sweet!
Ingredients:
1 cup blanched almonds
1/2 cup pine nuts
1/2 cup of firm tofu well drained
1 Tbl nutritional yeast (optional)
1 tsp red wine vinegar
1 tsp vegetable oil
2 drops of liquid smoke
2 tsp onion powder
1/2 tsp salt
2 Tbl fresh chives
Preparation:
- Place the almonds, the pine nuts, and process quickly.
- Squeeze as much water from the tofu.
- Add the tofu, the olive oil, the liquid smoke, the onion powder, and salt and blend.
- You may need to stop and mix with a spoon.
- Pour the mix in a bowl and fold in the chives.
- Make a ball and wrap in saran wrap and refrigerate overnight.
- The next day, crunch 1 cup of walnuts into small pieces and roll the ball to cover it completely.
- Serve with crackers, celery sticks or bread slices.
Notes:
You can make a garlicky version or use fine herbs of your choice.
Be creative and let me know how it turned out.
Bon appetit!
- 4 slices of good French bread (toasted or not)
- ½ package of tofurkey roast beef style
- 1-2 medium white or yellow onions sliced
- 1 Tbsp balsamic vinegar
- 1 Tbsp soy sauce
- 4-7 peperoncinis per person
- ½ red pepper (if you digest them)
- ⅓ cup vegan cheese (Pepperjack Style shreds* or Jalapeno)
- Start slicing the onion.
- Put a little vegetable oil in a frying pan and cook the onions over medium heat.
- Sprinkle some balsamic vinegar and mix with the onion, then add the soy sauce. Cover and mix from time to time. Add a little water if needed until the onions are translucent.
- Open the Tofurky package and separate the slices. Slice in strips.
- If you can digest bell peppers, take a half red or green pepper, remove the stem, the seeds, and slice in thin strips.
- We used pickled pepperoncini instead and it worked out even better because they were pickled and didn’t need much cooking.
- Mix the peppers or pepperoncini to the onion mixture. Cook the peppers for a few minutes or until they are more tender.
- Toast the bread if you would like, not if you are using French rolls.
- In the frying pan, create 4 separate portions and sprinkle some of the daiya pepper jack shreds and cover to melt in.
- Place the bread on plates and quickly serve the steak mixture being careful to keep the melted cheese on top. It may require a spatula and a spoon to transfer successfully.
