Fiesta Tomato salad with Macademia - Red Pepper Cheese

So my first nut cheese was definitely a tasty success.

The color and texture weren't quite right, and, while it didn't actually taste like cheese, it was totally satisfying in place of cheese on this salad of Mexican flavors. Perhaps more of a Macademia-red pepper spread, it was rich and smooth and worked brilliantly with the tomatoes and refried beans.

I ate the rest with sesame blue corn chips and salsa. Delicious and easy!

The recipe is based on the raw nut cheese recipes in Ani's Raw Food Kitchen by Ani Phyo, which attracted me due to their simplicity (no 3 day sprouting of rejuvelac required!) My version is also very easy. You'll see the measurements aren't that precise because I was playing with the taste as I went along.

Macademia Red Pepper Cheese:

1/4 cup macademia nuts
squeeze of lemon juice
4 taps cayenne (it was hot, so you may want to start with 1-2 taps)
1/8 tsp soy sauce
pinch nutritional yeast
pinch of sea salt
1/4 -1/2 roasted red pepper (I used Trader Joe's from a jar)
1/4 cup water as needed

Grind together the nuts, lemon juice, cayenne, and soy sauce in a mini prep. Add the soy sauce, yeast, and salt and a little of the water until the consistency starts to become creamy. Add the roasted red pepper in pieces, until well blended. Add water only as needed to get the desired consistency.