Viva Deliciously Vegan Christmas Guide, plus Cranberry ‘Boursin’ Style Cheese Recipe
As we settle into the cooler months, most of us are thinking ahead and pondering ideas, and making festive plans for the holiday season. Home decor, gift buying, get-togethers, and creating scrumptious recipes are our main focus. Food plays a significant role in holiday celebrations and decadent recipes are aplenty. While most households dream of sugarplums, creamy eggnog, and fattened turkeys, a Vegan Christmas may be just the change you need this holiday season. Although it will be different, it can be just as merry and decadent but with plant-based ingredients.
I’ve been a vegan for several decades and at first, it was a challenge to find scrumptious and palatable holiday recipes. But now more and more people are embracing the beauty and health benefits of a vegan diet and creating mindful and conscious recipes that not only satisfy our tastebuds but heal our spirits. While I do have several vegan holiday recipe books, this year I’ll be exploring the mouthwatering recipes from the Viva Deliciously Vegan Christmas Guide.
Impress your family and friends, be they vegan or not, with Viva!’s brand new, deliciously vegan Christmas recipe guide! Savor the vegan flavor! Included in this guide are 25 recipes from scrumptious starters to luscious mains to tempting sides and heavenly desserts! But let’s not forget yummy truffles, Christmas cakes and cheese! This delectable expanded guide has everything you could possibly want for your Christmas feast… including festive cocktails! Learn how to make a Cranberry Mojito, an Old Fashioned and vegan ‘Baileys’ Irish Cream Liqueur! Cheers!
I’ve been to many holiday parties over the years where the only thing vegan is the raw veggie tray — but then the dip is animal-based. I felt excluded. So, it’s important to be conscious of other types of diets and have a variety of options available for them. One recipe that all food types will agree on is the Cranberry ‘Boursin’ Style Cheese recipe.
Cheeses of all kinds are a holiday staple. Look at any festive platter and you’ll see an enormous variety of cheeses along with fruit and crackers. Most vegans know you can make your own cheese with nuts, nutritional yeast, and Irish moss. But as a health-conscious person, I have to mention a point about nutritional yeast. According to the Medical Medium, he said: “not to be fooled by trends like nutritional yeast, which saturates your liver in glutamic acid” (MSG). For many, this is not a factor, but for those who are sensitive, you may want to avoid this ingredient.
Although there is some prep time to make this recipe, it’s not difficult to make and you can find all the ingredients at your local grocers or health food store. I think everyone will enjoy this yummy Vegan Christmas recipe!
Cranberry ‘Boursin’ Style Cheese Recipe
Perfect for the holidays
- 85 g cashew nuts
- 125 ml unsweetened plant milk
- 2 tbsp tahini
- 1½ tsp onion powder
- ½ tsp garlic powder
- 10 g nutritional yeast
- 1 tsp salt
- 250 ml boiling water
- 2 tbsp agar powder
- Handful dried cranberries
- decorations freshly ground black pepper, pink peppercorns and sage leaves (optional)
Line a large pudding basin (around 650 ml) or similar sized container of your choice (to use as a cheese mould) with cling film and leave some hanging over the edges. Set aside.
Soak the cashews for a minimum of 2 hours. Drain and rinse thoroughly.
Blend the cashews, plant milk, tahini, lemon juice, nutritional yeast, onion powder, garlic powder, and salt until smooth. Set aside.
In a jug, pour the 250 ml of boiling water over the agar powder until the powder has dissolved.
Add this to the cashew mixture in the blender and give it a quick whizz until combined.
Stir through a handful of dried cranberries and then pour the mixture into your mould. Leave to cool for 20 minutes before transferring to the fridge.
Leave to set for a minimum of 2 hours.
Decorate with peppercorn and sage.
Disclaimer: I was given permission to feature this recipe.
Love this recipe, will have to try for sure. I’m doing my best to eat plant-based and always looking for recipes that replace old comfort foods. I have printed and put in my to try folder. Thank you
This sounds really good, I want to try it. I will of course avoid the nutritional yeast since I know it’s terrible for our health.