CultaVegan

Chocolate Peppermint Cheesecake:

Crust:

1 1/2 cups of pecans

1 package of Anna’s Chocolate Mint thins

1/2  cup raisins

2 TBSP agave syrup

2 TBSP melted coconut oil

1/2 TSP salt

Chop pecans and chocolate mint thins together in a high power blender until they are fine crumbs, transfer to mixing bowl. Add the salt, agave syrup and coconut oil, mix well with a fork. Press down into a srpingform cheesecake pan and put in the freezer.

Filling:

4 cups raw cashews (soaked in water for a few hours)

1/4 cup lemon juice

4 squares dark bakers chocolate (make sure its vegan)

1 TBSP coconut oil melted

1 cup agave syrup

2 TBSP liqueur

1/2 cup almond milk

3/4 cup coconut oil melted

In a small saucepan put the 4 squares of bakers chocolate and 1 TBSP of coconut oil and melt into a liquid.

In a large high power blender put the cashews, lemon juice, agave syrup, melted chocolate and liqueur.(If you want this cheesecake to be very pepperminty use something like a peppermint shcnapps ,I didn’t have any so I used Maker’s Mark bourbon and it turned out delicious.)

If you need more liquid to be able to blend this use the 1/2 cup of almond milk, if you need more use more if you need less use less or don’t use it at all if you have a really good blender.

Once this is very smooth, slowly pour the 3/4 cup of coconut oil into the mixture while the blender is still churning.

When oil is completely combined with the chocolate chashew mixture and it is very smooth, pour this into the springform cheesecake pan ontop of the crust. Leave this in the freezer for about 2 hours until set.

Topping:

1 TBSP coconut oil

2 cups vegan chocolate chips

peppermint extract to taste

               or

2 cups of vegan peppermint chocolate chips

In a small saucepan melt down coconut oil with either the peppermint chocolate chips or the regular chocolate chips and peppermint extract.

Once they have fully melted pour overtop of the already set cheesecake and smooth with a spatula or a knife, make sure the top is very smooth. Put this back in the freezer for about an hour.

Once it is set you can leave it in the fridge, or leave it in the freezer and take it out 1/2 an hour before serving.

Chocolate Peppermint Cheesecake

Putting my cheese sauce to good use, I added some chopped pickled jalapenos and a few drops of liquid smoke to make this Nacho Cheese Sauce. The original receipe is here: http://cultavegan.tumblr.com/post/44087857284/as-you-can-see-my-cheese-sauce-is-nice-and-thick

My husband also made some delicious additions to my guacamole.

Recipe:

4 large ripe avocados

juice from 1 small lemon or lime

1 tsp salt

1 TBSP chopped cilantro

1 clove crushed garlic

1 TSP garlic powder

1 TSP cajun seasoning or chilli seasoning

1/4 cup corn

1 small finely diced tomato

2 finely chopped green onions

Mash all ingredients together in a large bowl and that’s it!

Mango Lemon Cheesecake

Recipe:

Filling:

4 cups raw cashews (soaked for a few hours)

1/2 cup lemon juice

3/4 cup agave

1 TBSP lemon zest

1 TSP vanilla extract

1 cup of liquid coconut oil

Crust:

1 package of vegan ginger snap cookies (about 2 cups) I used Anna’s Ginger Thins which are vegan according to Peta’s website.

2 cups pecans

1/2 cup raisins

2 TBSP agave syrup

1/4 cup coconut oil

1/4 TSP salt

1/4 cup unsweetened shredded coconut

Mango Topping:

4 mango’s

2 TBSP ground white Chia seed

1 TBSP lemon juice

1/4 cup of liquid coconut oil

First, make your crust. Put cookies, pecans, raisins and salt in a high speed blender. Blend until very fine, it will probably start to stick together because of the oils in the pecans and sugar in the raisins which is good. Transfer mixture into a medium size mixing bowl and add the agave syrup and melted coconut oil, mixing with a fork until combined. Sprinkle coconut evenly over the bottom of a springform cheesecake pan and press the crust down over the bottom firmly and evenly. Put in the freezer while you make the filling.

To make the filling put all ingredients except for coconut oil into your blender. Blend on high until completely smooth. Once this is smooth slowly add the melted coconut oil to the mixture as it is blending on a low speed. Once the coconut oil has been well mixed into the cashews take your crust out of the fridge and pour the cashew mixture into the pan on top of the crust. Try and make the top of the filling as smooth and even as you can. Put the cake back in the freezer while you make the mango topping.

Mango Topping:

Peel mango and cut off the pit. Put into blender along with the rest of the ingredients and blend on high until very smooth. Pour over top of the cheesecake which has been sitting in the freezer making sure it looks as smooth and even as you can.

Now that all the layers are finished let the cheesecake sit in the fridge for about 5 to 6 hours to fully set before serving.

You can also skip the last step of making the mango topping. Instead just blend together your favourite fruit with a little lemon and sugar into a delicious fruit puree and pour over each individual slice when it’s time to serve. If you do this instead you can skip putting the cake in the freezer, just put it right into the fridge and leave it until it’s ready.

This is my version of the traditional Lebanese dishes Mjadra and Tabbouleh Salad.I served them with my Sunflower Yogurt Sauce.

Mjadra is basically a mixture of rice and lentils without much seasoning, topped with a lof of caramelized onion. It doesn’t need a lot of spices because the fried onion give it so much flavour.

I decided not to mix mine with rice because i was already serving it with a buckwheat Tabbouleh Salad.

Mjadra:

3 large white onions

2 TBSP coconut oil

about 5 green cardamom pods

1 can or about 3 cups of green lentils

salt to taste

Heat coconut oil in a large non stick wok or a large well seasoned cast iron pan. Add onion and cardamom and set stove to a medium heat. Slowly cook onion until it is very soft and dark golden brown but not burnt. When onions are ready remove the cardamom pods and add the lentils. The little bit of liquid in the lentils should deglaze your pan. Salt to taste.Mix well and let the lentils heat up in the pan for a few minutes before serving.

Buckwheat Tabbouleh:

1 1/2 cup Buckwheat groats

1 small cucumber

1 small tomato

large handful of parsley

1 lemon worth of juice

2 cloves minced garlic

1 TBSP tahini

1/4 cup olive oil

salt and pepper to taste

Cook buckwheat according to directions. It cooks the same as rice but only takes about 10 min. Let the buckwheat cool.

Dice the tomato and cucumber and finely chop the parsley.

When buckwheat is cool add the tomato, cucumber and parsley and mix well.

Combine all other ingredients in a small dish and pour over salad.

Salt an pepper to taste.

Sunflower Yogurt Sauce:

1 large TBSP of sunflower butter (you can also use pumpkin seed butter or tahini)

1/4 cup of lemon juice

1/4 cup plain almond milk yogurt

2 TBSP olive oil

salt and pepper to taste