Nothing says Spring like fresh green garlic at the farmer’s market. I grabbed a bunch the other day, and before I could put it into my bag this idea to make fresh raw almond cheese with green garlic popped into my head. This is a fresh, quick cheese that slightly resembles the consistency of a ricotta, and offers a nice, nutritious, dairy-free creaminess. The green garlic made it heavenly. You can use it on a sandwich with vine tomatoes, as an hors d’oeuvre filling or topping- as pictured, or try it in layers of lasagna. Enjoy!
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1 1/4 cup raw almonds, soaked in filtered water for at least 2 hours or overnight
2 tbsp. fresh lemon juice
3 tbsp. olive oil
1 1/4 tsp. salt
2/3 cup water
1 tbsp. nutritional yeast
1/4-1/2 cup sliced green garlic (depending on how strong you want it to taste)
Drain the almonds, and remove the skin from each almond by hand. This makes the cheese more white and gives it a more cheese-like appearance. But you can also leave the skins for a more textured look and taste.
Place the peeled almonds and all the remaining ingredients except for the garlic greens in a food processor. Start with only half the water. You can add the rest of the water later if you think you need it. Process the mixture for at least 2 minutes. Check for smoothness. If you can recognize pieces of almond, it isn’t smooth enough. Continue processing if needed. This could take a while and it may seem like you are processing too much, but it’s okay. Add the rest of the water if needed, or as much as you need to get the consistency you want.
Once you reach the consistency you like, add the garlic greens and process until the greens are mixed in and chopped, but still large enough to give some green speckled color to the cheese. Give it a final taste and adjust ingredients where needed. I like it when it gets to the consistency of ricotta cheese. They key is to get it past tasting like ground up almonds.
Serve as desired.
For this particular post, I sliced up 2 medium zucchini, tossed in olive oil and seasoning, and grilled both sides. They made a great hors d’oeuvre base with the cheese on top. Yum!
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Check out the quick video for Green Garlic Almond Cheese here:
| Servings |
servings
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- 1 1/4 cup raw almonds soaked in filtered water for at least 2 hours or overnight
- 2 tbsp. fresh lemon juice
- 3 tbsp. olive oil
- 1 1/4 tsp. salt
- 2/3 cup water
- 1 tbsp. nutritional yeast
- 1/4 cup sliced green garlic use 1/2 garlic for stronger taste
Ingredients
|
- Drain the almonds, and remove the skin from each almond by hand. This makes the cheese more white and gives it a more cheese-like appearance. But you can also leave the skins for a more textured look and taste.
- Place the peeled almonds and all the remaining ingredients except for the garlic greens in a food processor. Start with only half the water. You can add the rest of the water later if you think you need it. Process the mixture for at least 2 minutes. Check for smoothness. If you can recognize pieces of almond, it isn't smooth enough. Continue processing if needed. This could take a while and it may seem like you are processing too much, but it's okay. Add the rest of the water if needed, or as much as you need to get the consistency you want.
- Once you reach the consistency you like, add the garlic greens and process until the greens are mixed in and chopped, but still large enough to give some green speckled color to the cheese. Give it a final taste and adjust ingredients where needed. I like it when it gets to the consistency of ricotta cheese. They key is to get it past tasting like ground up almonds.
- Serve as desired. For this particular post, I sliced up 2 medium zucchini, tossed in olive oil and seasoning, and grilled both sides. They made a great hors d'oeuvre base with the cheese on top. Yum!
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