Sunflower Seed Cheese
Making cheese from sunflower seeds
It’s week two of the Covid pandemic and we’re hankering for some cheese. But we’re still in lockdown, staying home and well away from grocery stores. There’s no milk in the refrigerator to make homemade mozzarella. I’m pondering a vegan alternative (which makes my sinuses much happier too).
In the past I’d made a vegan almond cheese, but I’m also out of almonds. Sunflower seeds I have in abundance, as well as the additional ingredients needed.
For this recipe you need:
2 cups of sunflower seeds (preferably, pre-soaked)*
1/3 cup nutritional yeast (20 grams)
1/4 cup organic coconut oil
juice from 1 lemon
1 tablespoon miso
1 teaspoon garlic
1 teaspoon turmeric
1/2-1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon sumac or smoked paprika
Directions:
Place all ingredients in your food processor or vita-mix or similar blender. Periodically pause the processor and scrape the sides. Taste, adding extra salt or seasonings as desired. Blend until smooth.
I chose to divide my plain dough and make a variety of flavors: The varieties shown in the photo below are chives and garlic chive, rosemary, basil-garlic, and spicy (made with harissa-a chopped chili blend that will be detailed in a future post).
If you find the texture direct from your food processor a bit coarse you can add or dash or olive or avocado or hempsheed oil to thin slightly. I also chose to do a final whiz of my cheese batter with my Ninja Auto IQ
In the photo above, I used silicon cupcake molds, silicon heart molds, as well as a small bowl lined with parchment paper.
For the most speedy results, make one or two large ‘cheeses’ to serve your family. With so few in our household at the moment, I chose to make individual servings and lots of flavors.
When your cheese is chilled and set (4-6 hours) turn out onto a plate, and decorate as desired. Store extras in a sealed plastic container. I like to wrap mine in beeswax wraps. The cheese keeps well in the refrigerator for a week. It can also be frozen.
FLAVOR TEST: So ok, does this really taste like CHEESE? To be honest, no, unless perhaps you’re a vegan who always avoids dairy cheese. But this creamy spread, says my fussy husband Barry, does taste good. He describes the flavor as unique. I especially love the spicy cheese and Barry prefers the herb style.) This is a cheap, creamy easy dip, whether you’re in lockdown or just seeking a new taste sensation.
*WHY PRE-SOAK THE SEEDS? Pre-soakling the sunflower seeds makes them softer and easier to puree. Be sure to rinse well, and discard the soak water before using.
Note that traditional people soaked or fermented grains, seeds and nut before eating them, a practice worthy of resurrection in our modern lives. Seeds, nuts and grains contain phytic acid and enzyme inhibitors that prevent premature germination. If you eat these foods without pre-soaking to neutralise the pytates and inhibitors, they become harder to digest, and nutrients less available to the body.
I've practiced this step for decades, since exposure to the work of Weston Price (read his classic Nutritional Degeneration) and Sally Fallon (Nourishing Traditions). These books inspired me to presoak grains, seeds and nuts in warm salty water for several hours before using.
Kimi Harris, author of Fresh Nourishing Salads for all Seasons and the Nourishing Gourmet blog, writes: If I wasn’t convinced by the opinions of researchers like Sally Fallon about the benefits of soaking grains, legumes, and nuts and seeds, my own experience would have soon convinced me. …I have often noticed that raw nuts have bothered my stomach slightly, and that I could not eat very many of them without getting an aversion to them. But once I started soaking and dehydrating them, I found, to my delight, that I could handle them very well. Not only that, but I found that they had a much better texture and flavor… This is especially true in regard to nuts and seeds.”
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