How to Make Vegan "Cheese" Spread

Hosting a holiday party can be stressful. There's the top-to-bottom cleaning, the decorating, the cooking, and then of course you have to think about who to invite. Will Bob and Jane be going through another period of "mutual separation"? Will your boss get blasted and hit on your neighbor again? Oh, and then there's your cousin and her boyfriend who have recently declared she's gone vegan AND gluten-free.

While there are some hassles of planning a party that just can't be avoided, dietary restrictions shouldn't be one of them. That's why I always like to prepare a few vegan-friendly dishes that meat eaters can enjoy as well. That way everyone leaves happy and full, without creating a bunch of additional work for you.

This Vegan Cheese Spread is always a crowd pleaser along with my Vegan Spinach Dip. They both taste sinfully decadent and most people would never guess they were vegan. So how does one go about creating a vegan cheese?

Well, before we make a vegan cheese spread we have to think about the characteristics that make cheese cheesy. For me, the first thing is that fermented flavor that's created as the proteins and fats break down in aging cheese. The second characteristic is the smile inducing umami produced by the large amount of free glutamates in cheese. Then there's the rich creamy texture of most cheeses. Lastly cheeses like cheddar have a sharp kick that's somewhere between sour and astringent.

To reproduce these characteristics in a dairy-free cheese, I turned to my pantry for inspiration. First for the aged cheese flavor, I used some nutritional yeast and miso. These ingredients are also loaded with glutamic acids that pack a wallop of umami. The rich creaminess comes from the cashews, soy milk and tahini. For the sharp cheddary flavor, I enlisted the help of some mustard and apple cider vinegar.

The resulting spread is rich, creamy, and ultra-flavorful with just a hint of fermented funk. It takes on a marvelous reddish-orange hue from the sun dried tomatoes and turmeric, and a dusting of finely chopped pistachio nuts gives it a festive green color that practically glows.

Best of all, this is a make-ahead dish that can be prepared a day or two in advance. Just hold off on the pistachio garnish until you're ready to serve it. This also happens to be gluten free, but if you do have guests that are avoiding gluten, be sure to get breads and crackers that are gluten-free as well.