Cashew Parmesan

I have a friend that lives in Burlington, Vermont. I visited her and her wonderful town a few years ago and I loved everything about it. From the cute streets and shops, to the nice people, the great restaurants, and the lively community atmosphere, I could definitely see myself living there. Well, actually, maybe not. I would freeze my toosh off. But that’s besides the point. One interesting thing I noticed was that it is extremely vegan/vegetarian friendly, pretty similar to Berkeley. I learned some new things about veganism that weekend, such as vegan-friendly makeup and this weird thing called nutritional yeast that my friend liked to eat on her popcorn. I bought some vegan-friendly mascara to take home with me (it’s pretty great if you need some), but I didn’t think twice about the nutritional yeast. It sounded too odd to experiment with.

That is, until I stopped eating so much cheese. The research for cheese substitutes began in full force. I ran across nutritional yeast again, and decided it was worth a shot. It turns out that it’s pretty great, and you don’t have to be vegan to enjoy it.

I started putting it on popcorn like a hypocrite, and adding it to my pesto. And then I decided my bolognese sauce was a little lonely. So I did some research and found a solution: cashew parmesan.

It’s so simple to make and lasts longer than you need. And tastes great in place of parmesan if you, too, try to limit your dairy. It’s no Pecorino Romano, and never will be, but it sure is a great substitute. Don’t be afraid to try it out like I was!

Cashew Parmesan

Cashew Parmesan is the perfect cheesy replacement for those who are dairy-free or vegan!

Total Time- 5 min

Ingredients