Cook With Us Week#13-Vegan Cracker Salad

I'm not vegan, but I do enjoy eating vegan food. I like to head to a farmer's market to see what produce is available and usually something will strike my interest and this time is no exception. I saw some incredible greens and I thought they would be perfect for this week's vegan challenge. I knew I wanted to make a salad, but I also wanted a twist, so I thought why not make a salad which you can eat like a pizza. The base would be a thin, crisp cracker and there would be mounds of vegan cheese, vegetables and salad greens that were mild, bitter and peppery. I chose to make a Sardinian cracker called carta di musica. I substituted half of the all purpose flour called for in the recipe with rye flour and buckwheat flour for a more flavorful cracker.

You can easily mix the dough together by hand. You want to roll dough super thin. If the dough rips, you can pinch it together. I found it easier to roll and stretch the dough without flouring the surface.

These crackers bake up really fast and there will be some darker spots in areas where the dough was rolled thinner which is the beauty of these rustic crackers.

For the toppings, I simply roasted a butternut squash with some olive oil, salt and pepper until the squash was tender. I also made a soft vegan cheese that was similar in texture to ricotta cheese.

Vegan Cheese

• 1/2 cup raw cashews, soaked overnight
• 1/2 cup raw slivered almonds, soaked overnight
• 1/4 block of firm tofu, pat dry
• 2 tsp nutritional yeast
• truffle mushroom powder to taste (optional)
• onion salt to taste
• freshly ground pepper to taste
• 2 tsp finely chopped fresh herbs

Drain the soaked nuts and place into a food processing bowl and process until a paste forms. Add in the tofu and blend until smooth. Add in the chopped herbs. I used a blend of oregano, thyme, and rosemary from my herb garden. Season with onion salt, pepper and truffle mushroom powder to taste. I found this mushroom powder at an Italian grocery store and when you sprinkle it into the cheese mixture, you can smell the woody scent of the truffles. The earthy flavors really come through and adds an extra depth to this vegan cheese. If you can't find the truffle powder you can omit it or add some truffle oil to taste.

For the salad mix. I purchased some buckwheat greens, lamb quarters, radish sprouts, micro swiss chard, and some micro mescaline greens. To assemble the cracker. I scooped some butternut squash flesh and randomly placed them on the crackers with dollops of the vegan cheese. Then I topped the cracker with salad greens and added some pieces of avocado and teardrop peppers. The teardrop peppers have a sweet pickled taste with a touch of heat, similar to peppadews. I finished this dish with a drizzle of balsamic vinegar reduction, olive oil and a generous sprinkle of Maldon sea salt. To make balsamic reduction, I poured 1/3c of balsamic vinegar and over low heat reduced it to a syrup consistency.

There are so many different flavors and textures going on in this salad. It's creamy, earthy, sweet, sour, peppery and crunchy. Every bite is different and the best part, you don't have to eat this salad with a fork. Happy Eating!