Christmas Cream Cheese

Note: The Sun Dried Tomatoes should be prepared the day before beginning the Cream Cheese. They require a whole day to dehydrate before use.

Kelly’s Sun Dried Tomatoes
6 cups organic cherry tomatoes
¼ cup olive oil
1 tsp. onion powder
1 tsp. garlic powder
1 tsp. 21 seasoning salute Trader Joe’s spice. * If you do not have this available, just omit it from the recipe entirely.
¼ tsp. black pepper
2 tbsp. dried basil
¼ Himalayan sea salt
1/3 cup nutritional yeast

Directions:
Take the tomatoes and cut them into slices and place in a large mixing bowl. Add the rest of the ingredients and gently hand mix. Evenly distribute on a dehydrator tray with a teflex sheet and place in the dehydrator. Do not stack the tomatoes on top of each other. They have to be flat during the dehydration process so use more than one tray. Dehydrate at 115 degrees for 10 hours. Remove from the dehydrator and gently flip the tomatoes by hand, rearrange them and dehydrate for another 10 hours. If there is one tomato that did not completely dehydrate, remove it from the batch and discard. Place in a mason jar with a plastic lid. Store in the refrigerator for up to 3 months. Yields 3 cups.

Ingredients:
2 cups cashews (raw and soaked)
¼ cups chopped pistachios
1 cup filtered water
3 tsp. lemon juice
¼ tsp. Himalayan sea salt
2 cups organic baby spinach (packed)
1 tsp. onion powder
1 tsp. garlic powder
2 tbsp. basil powder
1 tsp. olive oil
½ cup nutritional yeast
1 1/2 cups Kelly’s sun dried tomatoes ( Set aside 3/4 cup for garnish)

Directions:
Soak the cashews in filtered water for 2 to 4 hours. Rinse and drain the cashews several times before placing them into a Vitamix. Add 1 cup filtered water, lemon juice, salt, spinach, onion powder, garlic powder, nutritional yeast, olive oil, and basil to the Vitamix. Using a tamper, blend until creamy smooth. Test the mixture with your fingers to make sure it is not gritty. Set the mixture aside.

Agar
Ingredients:
1 ½ tsp. agar powder
1 cup filtered water

Choose the molds that you are going to use. Place them on a plate and set aside.
Place 1 cup filtered water and 1 ½ tsp. agar powder into a pan. Turn on the heat to high and whisk constantly while heating. Once the water boils, reduce the heat to low and simmer for 5 minutes continue whisking during this procedure. It is done when it resembles heavy thick glue.

Note: Moving quickly is imperative at this point in the recipe because the agar sets up rapidly once it begins to cool down. Also note that when it is time to add the agar to the cheese, turn the blender on the lowest speed possible.

Now, turn the blender on low and pour in the agar while scraping the sides down. Add the pistachios, ¾ cup Kelly’s sun dried tomatoes to the cheese. Mix for 30 seconds until evenly incorporated. Do not over mix so that the pine nuts, tomatoes, and basil are still as whole as possible. Remove from the blender as soon as possible and pour into the molds. Smooth the tops of the cheese with a knife until the top is nice and flat. Cover the molds on the plate with saran wrap and place in the refrigerator for 4 to 6 hours. Remove from the refrigerator and remove the molds by pulling them straight up. The cheese will come right out. Garnish with the remaining sun dried tomatoes.

Directions:

This cheese has a shelf life of 4 to 6 days in the refrigerator. Make sure to store in an air tight container.

Note: Agar powder is a vegetarian substitute for gelatin. It is a vegan, gluten free food and is used in this recipe to mold the cheese and hold the shape.