If you’re someone who reads about vegetarian or vegan cooking you will no doubt have heard about cashew cream. This is one of those things that I keep coming across in my recipe meanderings and which has always piqued my interest, and yet has invariably fallen onto the “must look into that one of these days” category. Well, that day has finally come.
I wanted to make soup but to come up with something a bit different than the usual mixed veg or spicy black bean ones that I tend to make. I turned to the cupboards for inspiration and found the large bag of cashews that I’d had stashed away for this very cashew cream purpose. The cupboards had spoken. I also had a bag of frozen cauliflower and figured that maybe it could be a lovely creamy white combination if paired with the cashews and some caramelized onions for a delicate and sweet flavour.
When ever I decided to use an ingredient that’s not one of my everyday norms I like to look it up to see what I can find. I love it when something quite common place turns out to be quite fascinating. This was certainly the case with cashews.
These nuts are loaded with nutrition and are an especially rich source of minerals, especially selenium, zinc, iron, magnesium, manganese, potassium and copper. They are also loaded with monosaturated-fatty acids (heart healthy oils) and loaded with vitamins E, K and the B vitamins, among others. Because of a specific antioxidant that they contain they can even help to prevent macular degeneration!
What I didn’t know though was that cashews grow on the bottom of an edible fruit called a cashew apple. This fruit is regarded as a delicacy in Brazil and the Caribbean and, according to one thing that I read, is not, in fact, a fruit at all but a really bulbous stalk for the nut! The whole thing is quite beautiful looking. I also discovered that the reason that cashews are never sold in their shells is because the shells contain a caustic resin that has to be burnt off before handling. I love stuff like this, I think it’s so interesting and casts a food that I’ve kind of taken for granted in a new light.
I’ve used the cashew cream in soup, and it is beautiful. Turned out really velvety smooth and creamy. I used some home made vegetable stock, but you could as easily use store bought or a stock cube.
From this first endeavor I think I’m quite in love with the cashew cream. It seems that you can make all kinds of savoury and sweet creamy things using it and I’m quite excited to try it all out. You may see quite a few cashew cream recipes showing up here in the near future, but for now enjoy this nourishing creamy soup…we had it with pesto and feta twisty bread dipped into it and it was glorious!
- 100g cashew, soaked overnight
- 150mL cold water
- 400g cauliflower
- 1 large brown onion, chopped
- 600mL vegetable stock
- 1Tbsp oil
- Salt and pepper to taste
- Heat the oil over medium-high heat in a pan that has a lid. When the oil is heated, add the onions and salt and stir them around a bit. Leave them to cook, stirring occasionally, until they start to brown a little bit. Add a splash of hot water to the pan, cover with the lid and reduce the heat to medium-low. Leave the onions to cook, stirring very occasionally and adding a splash of water from time to time just if they start to dry out, until the onions are soft and a deep brown caramel colour,probably about 30-35 min, then remove them from the heat and set aside.
- Meanwhile blitz the soaked cashews with the water until they’re smooth and creamy.
- Heat the vegetable stock in a large pot over medium heat until it begins to simmer. Add the cauliflower and caramelized onions and allow it to simmer for about 20 minutes, until the cauliflower is very soft.
- Blitz the soup until it’s very smooth and then stir in the cashew cream and bring it to a simmer. Season to taste and serve hot with some lovely bread to dip into it.
sounds yummy! I wonder if this could be achieved with another kind of nut….. 🙂
I’ve been wondering that too. I might give it a try. I don’t know if others would go as creamy. I was wondering about seeds too.. like a tahini version although that’s got quite a distinct flavour of its own where as the cashews are quite mild….hmmm……
macadamias?
Ooo, I never thought of macadamias!! That might be the very thing! I’m going to try it!! I’ll let you know!!