NEW VERSATILE, TANGY VEGAN "CHEESE" SPREAD (GREAT FOR CHEESE "TOASTIES"!)

I'm so happy with this new recipe!  I wanted a cheese spread with a little more "bite" than my those I had devised in the past--  tasty as they may be! My priorities were that it be easy and inexpensive to make (with ingredients that are easy to find), reasonably low in calories and fat, versatile to use, more or less "meltable", and, most of all,  full of flavor. This new recipe ticked off all the boxes! And I was thrilled that it even gets brown spots and a sort of "crust" on top when grilled, broiled or briefly air-fried. I hope you'll give it a try.

Tangy "Cheese" Toast

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BRYANNA’S NEW VERSATILE, TANGY VEGAN "CHEESE" SPREAD (GREAT FOR CHEESE "TOASTIES"!) (Updated on April 26, 2020)

Makes 2 cups; 16 servings (2 tablespoons each serving)
© Bryanna Clark Grogan, 2020. All rights reserved.

This spread is delicious for filling celery sticks, or scooping up with other raw vegetables. It’s also delicious on crackers, and it make the best “cheese toasties”! (See note at end of recipe.)

If you can't use corn products, omit the corn flour in the recipe (see highlighted note on this in ingredient list below) and use finely-ground millet flour instead, or 2 Tablespoons of potato starch (not potato flour).

NOTE: After 1 or 2 days in the refrigerator, the flavor will be even more delicious, and tangier, too.

8 ounces medium-firm tofu, drained (but not pressed)

1/4 cup hot soy milk, or other creamy plant-based milk (OR use 2 T. soy milk and 2 T. dry white wine; OR just add 1 T. white rum to the soy milk)
3 tablespoons nutritional yeast flakes
2 tablespoons coconut oil
[I haven't tried this yet, but you could try using olive oil instead of the coconut oil, OR, if you don't use oil, use 2 T. more soymilk instead. With no oil, I don't know if it will melt as well.  I will try it out soon and let you know.]
2 tablespoons tahini
4 teaspoons fine corn flour

[Clarification: "Corn flour" in North America is made up of 2 words. It refers to finely-milled yellow cornmeal. (It is usually available in South ASian grocery stores, BTW.) This is what you should be using.
"Cornflour" in the UK & much of the British Commonwealth, is written as 1 word and refers to what we call cornstarch in North America. See https://www.healthline.com/nutrition/cornstarch-vs-corn-flour#processing ]

1 tablespoon lemon juice

1 heaping tablespoon white miso

2 teaspoons tomato paste

1 teaspoon smooth Dijon mustard
3/4 teaspoon salt

1/2 teaspoon garlic granules OR 6 soft, lightly roasted garlic cloves, peeled

Measure all of the ingredients into your blender and blend on high speed until the mixture is very smooth. You may need to stop the blender and push the mixture down at some point, especially if you aren’t using a heavy-duty blender.

Scoop into a 2-cup capacity refrigerator storage container, smooth it out and cover. (A container with a lid that locks in place is best.)

NOTE: Making “cheese toasties”. My method is to toast the bread slices lightly, smear with about 2 T. of the spread (or more, if you want it really “gooey”) and air-fry in my Cuisinart Air-fry Oven for a few minutes, on the wire basket. Watch carefully and remove when there’s a nice little “crust” with a few brown spots. You can use an oven broiler or a toaster oven on "broil", too.

Enjoy!