Ninja Cheezy Spread

Hello, ninjas!  Whew, it's been quite an eventful few weeks....first let me say that I hope all my readers came through Hurricane Sandy unscathed.  Here in Philadelphia, the impact of the storm was relatively minor.  We didn't even lose power.  Mike has been out of work for a week due to storm damage at his job, and we're not entirely sure how we're going to pay the bills with that loss of income, but it could have been a lot worse.  Friends in other parts of the East Coast lost cars, property, and some are still without electricity and water.  I am also told that there is looting and National Guard activity in some parts of New Jersey.  Please keep all of the victims of this disaster in your thoughts and prayers, and I would encourage everyone to donate to the disaster relief via The Red Cross (http://www.redcross.org/), or donate your time volunteering if you are in the area.

With that said, I also hope everyone had a good Halloween, despite inclement weather.  Mike and I took the kids trick or treating at the Philadelphia Zoo, and good times and excessive amounts of candy were had by all.  And the last bit of exciting news - a good friend of mine welcomed his first child into the world last week, so congratulations to Joe on being a new daddy!

So with all the hoopla lately, there hasn't been tons of time to experiment in the kitchen, but I did manage to whip up some cheezy spread the other day when I found myself with a cupboard stocked with tomato soup and I had a hankering for vegan grilled cheese.  I've been on quite a soup-and-grilled-cheeze-on-homemade-bread kick lately and I'm loving it.  The bread recipe I've been using is not mine, but can be found here: http://www.thehungrymouse.com/2010/03/25/homemade-sandwich-bread/.  It makes a perfect grilled sandwich and I think I might be trying it with french toast this weekend using my own crunchy coconut french toast recipe (found HERE in case you were wondering) since I also have some fresh coconut from the Asian market to use up.  I have a bread maker so I just halve the recipe amounts (because the recipe makes two loaves) and dump it all in the bread machine on a regular loaf cycle and it comes out perfectly.  I may never buy bread again.

So anyway, here it is - my recipe for yummy, tangy, cheezy spread.  Just spread it generously between two slices of non-dairy buttered bread and grill as normal for grilled "cheese" (I like some sliced tomato and sweet onion in there too) or just spread it on crackers or use as a dip for veggies.  The spread keeps in a lidded container in the fridge for up to a week.

Ninja Cheezy Spread

Ninja Cheezy Spread grilled with sweet onion between slices of homemade bread courtesy of a recipe from The Hungry Mouse, and tomato soup with chopped fresh basil.  You know you want some of this!

Ingredients:
1/4 cup quick oats
1/4 cup hulled raw sunflower seeds
1/2 cup nutritional yeast
2 Tablespoons cornstarch
1/2 teaspoon onion powder
1/4 teaspoon turmeric
1/4 teaspoon paprika
1/4 teaspoon mustard powder
pinch coriander
pinch cayenne pepper
1 teaspoon salt
1 Tablespoon olive oil or non-dairy butter
2 cloves garlic
1 1/3 cups vegetable broth
1 Tablespoon lemon juice
1 Tablespoon tahini
1 Tablespoon miso 
1 Tablespoon plain vegan creamer or non-dairy milk

Place the oats, sunflower seeds, nutritional yeast, cornstarch, dry spices, and salt in a blender or small food processor.  Process until the mixture is a fine powder.  Place the oil or non-dairy butter in a saucepan over medium-low heat and add the garlic.  Gently saute the garlic for 3 minutes until fragrant.  Whisk in the dry mixture, vegetable broth, lemon juice, tahini, and miso and raise the heat to medium-high.  Bring the mixture to a boil.  Reduce heat to medium and cook for 3 minutes, whisking constantly, until thick.  Remove from heat and whisk in the creamer/non-dairy milk.  Allow to cool for 5 minutes before using. 

Tips and Tricks:

1. The mixture will thicken more as it cools, if it becomes too thick for your liking, simply whisk in some more non-dairy milk, vegetable broth, or water until you reach your desired consistency.

2. This recipe really does work best when you need a spread-type texture.  If you're looking for a melty cheese sauce, you may want to try a different recipe, as the oats and sunflower seeds make it quite thick and sticky.  I'll try to post a good cheese sauce recipe soon!


That's all for today, ninjas!  Hopefully things will calm down around here long enough for me to spend some quality time in the kitchen soon so I can bring you some more delicious eats.  Until then, much love and full bellies!

Love,

The Fur Ninja <3 b="b">