Tag Archives: cashew

Curried Sweet Potato Soup

curried sweet potato soup
curried sweet potato soup

Okay, I know that soup isn’t baked, and you may be wondering why I am posting a soup recipe here. Well, my last blog showed how to make homemade plant-milk and I wanted to offer a way to use that milk.

In the post “Chai Spiced Milk and DIY Plant-Milk Tips,” I mention that you can get thicker milk by changing the nuts to water ratio. Denser plant-milks make wonderfully creamy soups, and this soup is a shining example of that.

A local restaurant makes a curry sweet potato soup that I adore so I sought to recreate it. I found a recipe using powdered curry, but I find that the concentrated paste has a more bold flavor. And I like bold flavor.

Curried Sweet Potato Soup adapted from Sweet Potato Coconut Curry Soup

1 cup raw cashews (no need to soak)
1 cup water
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 shallot, rough chopped *
1/4 teaspoon fine sea salt
4 garlic cloves, rough chopped *
1 large or 2 small sweet potatoes, peeled and cubed *
1/2 cup butternut squash or carrots, peeled and cubed *
2-3 tablespoons green curry paste, depending on the strength of the brand used
1/2 cup vegetable broth
1 14-ounce can coconut milk
1/2 tablespoon Thai basil, chopped (optional)
2 tablespoons pumpkin seeds, lightly toasted, for garnish

Place the cashews and water into a high speed blender and blend until almost smooth. Set aside. (No need to clean the blender yet; you’ll use it again soon).

Warm the oil in a large pot over medium-low heat. Add the shallot and salt and cook for 2-3 minutes. Add the garlic and cook for another minute, being careful not to burn the garlic. Add the sweet potatoes, squash or carrots, and curry paste. Cook for 5 minutes, stirring frequently. Add the broth and coconut milk. Stir in the cashew milk you set aside.

Cover the pot and bring to a simmer. Add the Thai basil, if using. Reduce the heat to low and simmer for 25 minutes, or until the sweet potatoes are easily pierced with a fork. Carefully transfer the soup to your high speed blender and puree to desired thickness. Put the mixture back in the pot and warm it over a low heat until heated through.

Ladle the soup into bowls and garnish with toasted pumpkin seeds.

* You don’t need to finely chop any of the ingredients as you will be blending the cooked soup.

Until next time, happy non-baking!

Chai Spiced Milk and DIY Plant-Milk Tips

Chai Spiced Milk and DIY Plant-Milk Tips
chai spiced milk and DIY plant-milk tips

I’m still celebrating World Plant-Milk Day (or Week, as the case may be). If you’re new to the event, and wondering what I’m talking about, then catch my post from earlier this week. If you’re ready for some advice on making your own plant milk, then read on.

Tips for the best homemade plant-milk:

  • The ratio for making nut or seed milk is 1 part nuts/seeds to 3 parts water. Use less water if you desire a thicker, richer beverage.
  • Soaking the nuts or seeds beforehand makes them easier to digest and softens them for blending.
  • Storing pre-soaked nuts or seeds in the freezer allows you to make milk at a moment’s notice.
  • You can strain your blended nut/seed milk with a nut milk bag. (I’ve heard that paint strainer bags also work but I haven’t tried them). Alternatively, use cashews as your base because they blend in fully and don’t need to be strained out.
  • Homemade plant-milk stored in the fridge between 35 and 41ºF should last up to 5 days (according to VeganMilker).

You can make plant-milk as neutral-tasting as possible so it can be used in sweet or savory dishes. But it’s also fun to add flavorings to the blender for an instant, delicious beverage. Being a huge fan of chai lattes, I like adding chai spices to my milk and either heating it on the stove or adding ice for cool refreshment.

Chai Spiced Milk

3.5 cups water (filtered is best), divided
1 cup raw cashews
4-5 pitted dates
1/8 teaspoon clove powder
1/4 teaspoon cardamom powder
1/4 teaspoon ginger powder
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon powder
1/2 teaspoon turmeric powder, optional
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
pinch sea salt

Boil 3 cups of water. Add the cashews to a bowl and cover with 1 cup boiled water. Add the dates to a small bowl and cover with 1 cup boiled water. Add the spice powders to a small bowl and cover with 1 cup boiled water. Let the three bowls sit for at least 30 minutes, or up to 1 hour.

Strain the cashews and add them to the jug of a high-speed blender. Add the dates and their soaking water to the blender. Add the spiced water to the blender. Add the vanilla, salt, and remaining 1/2 cup water to the blender. Blend on high until smooth and frothy.

Serve over ice, or gently heat in a pot on the stove over medium-low heat until warm. Serves 2.

Until next time, happy non-baking!

Cookies and Cream Vegan Ice Cream

Cookies and Cream Ice Cream

Cookies and Cream Vegan Ice Cream

Many of the recipes attempted for this week’s inspiration came out disastrous. My goal was to prepare an ice cream base for a myriad of creations during the hot summertime. The flavor needed to be tasty enough on its own, with a texture that mimicked a quality dairy ice cream. I wanted creamy, not too sweet, and not icy, and I was willing to do anything to achieve vegan perfection. Some frozen treats that I made started out in a dairy version that I then tweaked, while some were complicated vegan recipes. None of them turned out great. That was until I watched a video on ice cream making and adapted the techniques I learned to enhance my vegan recipe.

The base I chose consisted of nuts, so I didn’t need to make it vegan. The changes I made were influenced by a mashup of many ice cream recipes that I looked at for reference. I used cashew milk for the liquid to add creaminess. To further encourage a smooth texture, I stuck with a liquid sweetener instead of a granulated one. The final tweak was to add sandwich cookies to the base to create the specific flavor profile.

Cookies and Cream Vegan Ice Cream

1 cup raw, unsalted cashews
1.5 cups cashew milk (or use coconut milk)
1 TBS vanilla extract
1/4 cup agave syrup
pinch of sea salt
12 vegan chocolate sandwich cream cookies, crushed

Put the cashews in a bowl and cover with water. Soak at least 4 hours, or overnight in the fridge. Drain the soaked cashews. Put drained cashews, cashew milk, vanilla, agave, and salt in a blender. Blend ingredients until mixture is smooth and thick. Prepare in an ice cream maker according to manufacturer’s directions. Add the cookies in at the end, according to your machine. Makes 1.5 pints.

Until next time, happy non-baking!