Supreme Cream

The ingenuity of many chef's is inspirational and quite amazing.  When I first began eating plants I was in total shock and disbelief that "cream" could be made from cashews.  At first I was like, "No Way!" Then I tried it and am still amazed.

I'm a big fan of soup - especially cream soups.  Cream of mushroom, cream of asparagus, cream of broccoli, cream of potato (e, or no e? Mr. Quayle?), tomato bisque --- they are all just so yummy! It's quite simple actually.  All one needs is a good vegetable stock, vegetable or tuber of choice, herbs, and cream.  Couldn't be any easier, right?

Ingredients
1 cup of RAW cashews
Water

Directions
Soak the cashews in water overnight in the refrigerator.  If you're pressed for time, boil the water and cover the cashews for 30-60 minutes.  Drain the water and rinse the cashews.

Put the cashews in a blender and cover with fresh water by about and inch.  The more water used the thinner the cream the less, the thicker.  If using a regular kitchen blender, blend on high for about 2-3 minutes.  Some people prefer to strain the cream through a milk bag or cheese cloth.  Personally, I don't think it's required.

If you're using a professional appliance such as a VitaMix then blend until the graininess of the mixture has dissipated - probably not long.  When I "grow up" I will get a VitaMix but don't have one as yet so I really can't help you there.

This cream base can be used for soups, fettuccine, sour cream, cream based salad dressings, and more.  The sky is the limit.

Enjoy!

Awesome Wintery Cruciferous Soup

Winter is the perfect time to whip a batch of soup that "sticks to the ribs" and is oh, so tasty.  The recipe to follow was a big hit with my family and I've stopped telling them "oh and by the way it's healthy too" as that kind of ruins it for them. Here is a recipe I threw together yesterday.





Ingredients
1 head of cauliflower cut into florets
1 quart of vegetable stock
1 cup of carrot juice
4-5 ribs of celery chopped
1/2 cup of chopped onion
1 cup of chopped carrots
1 cup of raw cashews
water
1 tsp thyme
1/2 tsp crushed pepper flakes
salt & pepper to taste
1/4 cup nutritional yeast (optional)

Directions
Cover the cashews in water and soak overnight.
Saute the vegetables in a stock pot for 5 minutes. Pour the the stock and carrot juice into the pot and bring to a boil.  Add the thyme and simmer for 10 - 15 minutes.
While the soup mixture is simmering drain the water from the cashews and rinse them a few times.  Put them into a blender and enough water to cover by about an inch.  Blend well.  It will take about 2-3 minutes in a normal house blender.  This should yield about 2 cups of cream. Add the cream to the soup pot and continue to simmer for another 5 minutes.
Pull out a few cups of the mixture and blend with an immersion blender and return to the pot.  Do this another time to add some "heft" to the soup.
Enjoy!