VeganMoFo: Cashews

Cashews are by far my favorite nut. I love to eat them raw, salted, roasted, as a snack, in a stirfry, as a garnish, however. The love affair probably started when I first had Chicken w. Cashewnuts at a chinese restaurant. I now put cashews in almost every asian type stirfry that I make, they just seem wrong without them. Homemade creamy cashew milk is great for using by itself or with a mixture of coconut milk for ice creams of all flavors. Blend them up to make sauces and dips a bit creamier. How about using them to crust some seitan or tempeh...delicious! Cashewbutter and jelly sandwiches! Cookies! Its endless. I love cashews.

Pictured above is Tamari Cashews. When I was a young vegetarian and had no idea what I was doing I "created" this recipe by mistake. I thought I was a culinary genius at the time, but have realized that recipes for this already exist (hey, I didn't know!). Anyway..my mom was alway's telling me how she use to toast pumpkin seeds in the oven and then coat them with tamari. She never told me how she did it. So one day I decided to toast some cashews in non stick skillet when the skillet was all hot and bothered I dumped in some tamari. Thats when I "created" this recipe all by my young self. I love eating them warm right out of the pan or cold out of the fridge. They are also good to chop up and garnish you dinner with if it needs a bit of extra saltiness.

Tamari Cashews.

1 cup Raw Cashews
1/8 cup Tamari (use low sodium unless you like how intense regular is)

In a dry non stick skillet toast your cashews, constently moving them. This is a good time to practice your sauteing/pancake flipping skills..its fun. When the cashews are lightly browned about 3-5 minutes dump in your tamari. Remember you are pouring a liquid into a hot dry pan it's going to react on contact and steam will be released so be careful!! Stir with a wooden spoon until cashews are coated and tamari dries up about 1 minute. Immedietly remove from the pan. If you don't the nuts will stick to the pan (even non stick) because some of the tamari coats and sticks to the pan but is easily cleaned up when washed. Eat!


I don't know if i've ever posted 3 days in a row! Here's to VeganMoFo and all it's glory!