living well one day at a time

I usually pride myself on a rather disciplined vegan diet, regularly alluding to the fact that I don’t miss animal products at all. While the thought and smell of dead animals definitely make me queasy at this point, I admit that there are animal products that are harder to kick than others. That being said, let’s talk about Pimento Cheese. More specifically, Plant Based Pimento Cheese.

Edit: at the time of writing this (2017) I was clearly very Vegan. At the time I didn’t realize that I was bordering on orthorexic and had writings and practices that were deeply embedded in restrictive diet culture – but it’s easy to see in hindsight. This recipe is still delicious, regardless of how you eat – and I plan to re-test and photograph this blog in the future from a much less harmful mindset.

Growing up in what is essentially the culinary clogged artery of our country, the Southern United States, cheese has almost always been a large component of my diet. I like to think this may be because most parents (hey, Mom and Pops) are never aware that a diet high in dairy can contribute to acne,  weight gain, diabetes and hormonal imbalances among other things. The reality is though…cheese is super tasty. I get it.

Plant Based Pimento Cheese is something that my brainy and brawny beau (pictured below with all of the abs and the physique of a Greek god in general) graciously created after listening to me brood over how much I missed pimento cheese.

I was skeptical of the results due to the fact that most vegan “cheese” recipes range from “inedible” to “okay” ( I still took photos just in case, fortunately). The following recipe is what he created, with a few other twists and suggestions from yours truly. It was too tasty not to share with you all, and I hope you enjoy it.

Ingredients:

– 1 container of Kite Hill Chive Cream Cheese (you can use other brands, this is just what I prefer)
– 1/4 cup pimentos (drained and divided in half) *
– 2 cloves of garlic
– 2 cups vegan cheddar shreds (my favorite brand is Follow Your Heart)
– 1/4 cup vegan mayo (I like Just Mayo from Hampton Creek in Truffle flavor)
– 1/2 tsp white pepper
– 2 tsp Sriracha hot sauce (I use Trader Joe’s brand)
– 1 tsp paprika
– optional add-ins: jalapeños, jack-cheddar cheese

Directions:

1. Put the contents of the cream cheese package into a large mixing bowl, so it softens up. Put half of your pimentos and garlic cloves into a food processor and process until they’re as small as possible. Plop this into the bowl with your cream cheese and stir until combined.

2. Add all of the other ingredients in the bowl and mix it all up. We began devouring this as soon as it was created, but it’s even tastier when chilled for a couple of hours to a day.

We decided it was best served on some toasted sprouted grain Ezekiel Bread  with ripe avocado, but it’s also superb as a dip.

*Pimentos can be a little tricky to locate (it’s usually about a 4 ounce jar of diced peppers), and I did so at my local Whole Foods next to the olives.

Are you a fan of pimento cheese? I’d love to hear about it in the comments!

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