Sanga, sandwich, sarnie, toastie, jaffle, what ever you call it it means the same thing: something delicious between two pieces of bread! Right now it is lunch time. It is quite chilly outside so I have decided to have a toasted cheese and tomato sandwich, an old fave.
Now you may be thinking that cheese is off limits for vegans, well it is in its traditional form ie dairy form. But I have been toying around with some vegan products and have discovered "Lotus Savoury Yeast Flakes". Oh how yummy you must all be thinking!!!! Well it had a recipe on the back so I decided to half it just in case it turned out crap, no need because it is (suprisingly) good. Also as vitamin B12 is often a concern for vegans, this fulfills the requirement. Nutritional Yeast is often quite tricky to find. I bought mine from the Sunshine Coast health food and organic mega store in Forest Glen for about $6. You may think that sounds quite steep for some yeast, however, from the halved recipe for the cheese I still have enough flakes left for about six or seven more quantities, so I think I got my money's worth.
Yeast Flake Vegan Cheese
Makes about a cup worth of cheese.
Ingredients
1/2 cup Lotus Savoury Yeast Flakes
25g plain flour
1 1/2 TBsp cornflour
3/4 tsp salt
1 cup water
1/4 cup margarine
Method
1. Mix the dry ingredients in a saucepan and add enough water to make a smooth paste.
2. When there are no lumps add the remaining water.
3. Pop saucepan on the heat and stir constantly until mix bubbles (this will happen quite quickly so watch it).
4. Let it bubble for about 30 seconds, then remove from the heat.
5. Use a whisk to whip in the margarine.
6. When cool put contents into a lidded container and place in fridge to use at your convenience.
It's quite tasty and imparts a kind of nutty flavour. It is a soft spreadable type of cheese. I think it would be great for kids (and adults) as a cheese sauce in place of macaroni cheese. The packet also suggests it would be ideal for pizza, casseroles, and enchilladas.
Try some vegan cheese and let me know what you think? What other vegan cheese have you tried? What would you use it in/on?
Yummy :)
ReplyDeleteI have been a vegan for four years and have only recently made cheese from the yeast flakes but not from this recipe from a Viva La Vegan one on You tube. I had been looking for the Lotus recipe but the packet I have has a curry dip recipe on it which looks tasty too. Thanks for posting.