Super Bowl Snacks for Your Vegan Friends
Justin Timberlake will be doing a very popular concert this Sunday, and as with any entertainment,you might want to grab a bite to eat . If you are an omnivorous thrash panda like me, this is an easy task. But, if you refrain from eating animals and their byproducts, getting involved in the salty, greasy, tasty orgy that is the Super Bowl spread can be a unique challenge.
Luckily, there are many delicious tricks you can do to make sure you (presumably vegan) and your potential vegan guests have a good time, because putting in a bowl of carrot sticks and hummus isn’t doing it.
Buffalo cauliflower
Cauliflower is not chicken, but when fried and poured with Buffalo sauce, it is much more satisfying (and tastier, in my opinion) than a fake substitute like chick-n. You can fry the buds ( as my favorite grocery store suggests here ), but I prefer to fry them until they are golden brown and crisp (25 minutes at 425 ℉) with 1/2 cup melted vegan butter sauce. and 1 glass of Frank’s Red Hot Sauce, then put them back in the oven for five minutes.
Vegan Cheeseball
Everyone loves a damn cheese ball, or at least a snack that embodies the spirit of cheese balls. The cultured cashew nut and nutritional yeast spread makes a very savory, easy-to-spread ball, and this recipe works very well for additions and variations. To make it you will need:
- 8 oz cultured cashew spread (like NuCulture Garden Herb )
- 1 cup cheddar style Daiya chunks
- 2 teaspoons liquid amino acids or soy sauce
- 1/4 cup crispy nuggets such as seeds, bacon bits, shredded potato chips, or roasted shredded nuts
- 2 tablespoons nutritional yeast
- Green part of one shallot
Combine the cashew paste, Daiya chunks, and liquid amino acids (or soy sauce) in a food processor and blend until smooth. Wrap the mixture in plastic wrap and roll it into a ball. Combine the remaining three ingredients in a bowl and roll in the crispy salty mixture to coat. Wrap in fresh plastic wrap and refrigerate until firm. (If you do this the day in advance, roll the topping mixture just before serving.)
Keso without cheese
A big game isn’t that great without a sticky, warm bowl of bright orange sauce, and shouldn’t be taken away from anyone. I like to use the optimized Food Lab recipe as a template, adjusting flavors as needed to suit my mood and whims. However, the key lies in using vegetable shortening (like Crisco; I also used coconut oil for nice results), half potatoes, and a cup of toasted cashews. Click the hyperlink above to see Kenji’s complete recipe, but I made my last batch with the following:
- 6 tablespoons vegetable fat
- 1 small onion, thinly sliced
- 4 garlic cloves, minced
- 1/2 teaspoon cumin
- 1 teaspoon smoked pepper
- 1/2 medium potato, thinly sliced
- 1 cup roasted cashews
- 1/2 glass of water
- 1/2 cup cashew milk (almonds work too)
- 3 tablespoons red miso (for a little funk)
- 1 cup edible yeast flakes
Melt the vegetable oil over medium-high heat in a medium saucepan or Dutch oven and cook the onions, garlic, and spices until the onions are tender and the garlic is flavorful. Add the potatoes and cashews and cook for a couple of minutes until the cashews are some color. Add cashew water and milk and simmer for 10 minutes. Add miso and yeast and beat with an immersion or power blender until smooth. For smoothest results, rub it through the splint. (The above sauce did not go through the shinua and I loved the texture.) Serve immediately or store in the refrigerator for up to a week, reheating in the microwave in 30-second portions, stirring between each jet while hot. If you want to really get out there, add some crafted soirizo (I love the Trader Joe brand), or fill out the Kenji completely and load it like this .