I never really liked feta cheese before going vegan, but the other day I suddenly found myself craving a crumbly white cheese on top of my salad. The end result of my experiment in vegan feta was a version that I prefer to regular feta. It made a delicious addition to a salad of mixed greens, strawberries, and agave-glazed walnuts (to make these all you need to do is heat agave and walnuts in a saucepan over medium high heat until the agave melts, reduces and sticks to the walnuts, then cool; or bake agave-coated walnuts in the oven on 350 F/180 C for about 15 minutes) with creamy cheesy Italian dressing (recipe follows).
Vegan Feta
Ingredients
- 200 g firm tofu (I used Cauldron brand), crumbled roughly to feta-size chunks
- 1 tbsp white miso
- 1 tbsp white wine vinegar
- 1 tbsp lemon juice
- pinch of salt
- 1-2 tsp dried Italian herb blend
- 3 tbsp nutritional yeast
- 1 tsp tahini
- 2 tbsp water
Instructions
- Crumble tofu roughly into a bowl.
- In a separate bowl, mix the miso, vinegar, lemon juice, salt, Italian herb blend, nutritional yeast, tahini and water until thoroughly combined. Pour this mixture of the tofu and mix thoroughly.
- Refrigerate. Leave to marinate overnight. Best served after it has marinated overnight, as the flavours will have melded better.
Creamy Italian dressing
This is my okara-less take on Messy Vegetarian Cook’s creamy Parmitalia dressing. Hats off to her for creating such a creamy, delicious dressing reminiscent of the one at the Olive Garden (but vegan and probably much healthier!).
Ingredients
- 3 tbsp white wine vinegar
- 2 tbsp olive oil
- 2 tbsp nutritional yeast
- 1 tbsp white miso paste
- 1 tbsp water
- 1/4 tsp Italian spice blend
- pinch of salt
- 2 tsp vegan parmesan (I use Parmazano brand)
Instructions
Mix all ingredients thoroughly (being careful to mix the miso paste in well) in a jar. You can store for a few days in the refrigerator — just shake to combine before serving.
