Oh, hey there! It’s been a while! Well, a while relative to this blog anyway. One full week, which might be the longest I’ve ever gone between posts. I’m happy to say that I’ve been enjoying some relaxing holiday time. But I couldn’t let the new year come and go without at least sharing one festive party recipe for you to get down with. Well, that and I’ve got tons of mushroom recipes lined up for January, so I thought maybe I’d space them out a bit by posting one now.
I love everything about this recipe. I found eating the cashew cheese with a spoon hard to resist. Same goes for eating the mushrooms straight from the skillet. (Side note: the mushrooms on their own would make an awesome side dish!) This is one of those dishes that you could serve to a crowd and I’m willing to bet nobody would guess it was vegan. The cashew cheese is made by blending up raw cashews that have been soaked in water. To get a super smooth blend, start by blending just the cashews and a clove of garlic with a small amount of non-dairy milk, to form a thick paste. Add more milk until the texture is smooth and creamy, like cream cheese. Finally, add some flavor elements: lemon juice, fresh herbs and salt.
You can use just about any type of fresh mushroom for your crostini topping, just make sure you chop them up small enough that they’ll fit on little baguette slices. I went with cremini mushrooms, but I’ve also done this with plain old button mushrooms as well as with those mixes of cremini, shiitake and oyster mushrooms you can get at the supermarket. Start by cooking the mushrooms in olive oil for a few minutes on each side. Get them nice and brown, and then add some garlic and cook a minute more. Finally, add some some white wine and thyme. Simmer until the wine evaporates, and season with salt and pepper.
Slather the cheese on toasted baguette slices, then top with mushrooms.
Check with Barnivore to ensure the brand of wine you’ve selected is vegan. Can the wine be omitted? The wine supplies a great deal of flavor to the mushrooms, so I don’t recommend it. You can play around with substitutions though. A few tablespoons of balsamic vinegar might give you a tasty result (although it’ll be very different from what you get if you follow the recipe). Forgot to soak your cashews? Try boiling them for 15 minutes. Is there a substitute for cashews? I’ve gotten macadamia nuts to work in similar recipes, and some readers have told me raw sunflower seeds will do the job. I haven’t tested either with this recipe though, so no promises!
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