As someone who tries to eat a large salad every day, I understand when people tell me they are bored with salads. The keys to enjoying salads for me are 1) changing up your produce every week, adding one or two new veggies, 2) always including a filling protein like beans/legumes, tofu, or tempeh, 3) incorporating healthy fats like seeds, nuts, and/or avocado, and 4) adding an ingredient you’re excited about (for example, Macadamia Parmesan Crumbles!).
While it’s certainly not necessary to go to the trouble of making special vegan cheese for your salads, I will say that it certainly makes a salad — whether it’s a basic green salad or a kale Caesar — much more interesting and flavorful. And really, this recipe is quite simple, makes several servings, and lasts 2 weeks in the fridge. Oh, and it’s dairy-free, oil-free, and highly nutritious!
The recipe for this macadamia parmesan is quite simple, but it does take time to dehydrate in the oven. The goal is not to make it crispy, but firm enough to hold together and not be sticky. It will still retain some moisture and be soft, much like crumbled feta.
I used an oven instead of a dehydrator because it’s faster and I figure most of you are more likely to own an oven. If you’d prefer to use a dehydrator, go for it! Just know that it will take several hours — possibly all day — to dehydrate.
- 1½ cups dry roasted macadamia nuts, soaked at least 30 mins in warm water, drained & rinsed
- 3 Tablespoons lemon juice
- 1 Tablespoon white miso paste
- 2 Tablespoons nutritional yeast (I prefer unfortified)
- 1 teaspoon garlic powder
- ½ teaspoon onion powder
- Black pepper to taste
- 2+ Tablespoons water
- Preheat oven to 200 degrees F and line a large baking sheet with parchment.
- Pulse all ingredients in a food processor, adding water 1 teaspoon at a time until a uniform, ricotta-like texture is achieved. It will not be perfectly smooth. Taste and add more miso or lemon juice if needed.
- Roughly spread the contents of the food processor onto one half of the parchment, leaving peaks (see photo in blog post).
- Bake 35 mins, then lift the end of the parchment with the parmesan and quickly fold it over the empty side to flip the contents over. Don't worry if it's not perfect! Take a table knife or edge of a spoon to cut the large clumps into smaller ones so they dry out faster. Return to the oven to bake 30 more mins, stir/chop more, then bake 30 more mins.
- Taste a clump of parmesan and decide whether it needs to dehydrate more (depends on how much water you added when blending). It should be dry on the outside and fairly soft in the center. The crumbles will firm up in the fridge. If it doesn't need to dehydrate more, allow to cool completely on the pan before transferring to a jar to be placed in the fridge.
- Use crumbles to top salads, avocado toast, tomatoes, pasta, etc.
These macadamia parmesan crumbles are so good, it’s hard to stop eating them by themselves! In addition to adding them to salads and pasta, here are some other ideas:
- Sprinkled on top of sliced tomatoes
- Added to avocado toast
- Put in a vegan taco
- Stuffed in a roasted zucchini boat
- Shoved into your mouth with reckless abandon
I hope you try these crumbles and get excited about salads again!
♥ ♥ ♥
Also, check out this post: How to Pack A Lunch For Work
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