Christmas series: Appetizer bites!

If you are hosting a Christmas party you should try these out! They take no time to prepare, they are tasty, you can personalize them and they are very cute!

If you are new to cashew “cheeses” or spreads, this is a great way to start. The only thing you really need for this is a strong food processor. The machine is going to transform nuts into a thick and creamy spread. After you have the basis, you can pretty much add and garnish with whatever spice or herb you like.

Here is what you’ll need for 30 appetizers:

• 1 cup of raw cashew nuts
• 1/4 cup of hemp seeds hearts
• 1/4 – 1/2 cup of nutritional yeast
• the juice of one lemon
• 1/4 – 1/2 cup of water
• salt and pepper to taste
• 30 crackers (I used Mary’s Original Organic Crackers)
• herbs and vegetables/fruits to garnish

Here is what you do:

1. Place everything except the water in the food processor and blend.
2. Add the water slowly while mixing to help everything get processed. Be careful not to put too much water. If you realize this is the case, just add a little bit more nuts or hemp seeds.
3. Let the machine work until you have a creamy  and thick mixture. Mine took about 5 minutes.
4. Use a piping bag with a star tip or a zip-lock bag to spread an even amount on each cracker. You could also use a spoon.
5. Garnish with fresh herbs, cherry tomato slices or avocado slices.

Now, this is the basic recipe to which you can add coriander seeds, curry powder, fresh basil leaves, cilantro or chives. The possibilities are quite endless so experiment away!

I garnished mine with some avocado slices to balance out the acidity of the lemon juice, but I think cherry tomato slices would also look great.

They usually tell you to soak the cashew nuts for this type of recipe, but I find that I don’t need to when using raw nuts. However, if your food processor is older, you might want to soak the cashews for at least one hour before making this.

Let me know if you try this out and what your favourite vegan cheese recipe is! Also chec. out La végé d’à côté for a fancy Christmas salad recipe!