Bagel Bites for Fishless Friday

Cashew Cream Cheese and Smoked Phish Bagel Bites

Let's call this part 2 in a 2-part series on fantastic fishless recipes.  First I gave you my Two Nut Phish Salad (yum), and today, on a Friday that still has lots of people around the world eating something from the sea, I bring you Cashew Cream Cheese and Smoked Phish Bagel Bites.

Another of my pre-vegan aspiring favorite things to eat was classic bagels and lox.  Removing the lox actually doesn't significantly change the deliciousness of that stack of savory delights - fresh bagel, Persian cucumber, Roma tomato, red onion, capers-if-handy, and cream cheese (I've been eating Tofutti brand and love it).

However, a while back I took a class with Miyoko Schinner, artisan vegan cheese maker, and she showed us how to make "lox" and "cream cheese" starring cashew nuts and nori.  First you make a cashew based creamy cheese, then mix in roasted red peppers, liquid smoke, nori, and sea salt to taste, and voila, you have a spread that any bagel would be proud to be schmeared with.

For Fishless Friday or Sunday Brunch, Cashew Cream Cheese and Smoked Phish Bagel Bites will definitely satisfy your craving for something-from-the-sea.  Enjoy! 

Two Nut Phish Salad (Vegan)

This month's food blogger group meetup theme was Vegetarian Brunch, which you know had me jumping for plant-based joy.  And what's brunch without a nice cold phish platter, right?

So I took my Two Nut Salad recipe, shaped it like an actual tuna, surrounded it with slices of a savory wheat/rye with mixed seeds bread, and headed for Judy and Joel's lovely Brentwood home.

Tunas Love Two Nut Phish Salad!

Here's the recipe:

Two Nut Phish Salad
2 cups garbanzo beans, canned or Melissa's steamed
1/2 cup hazelnuts, ground
1/2 cup almonds, ground
1/3 cup carrots, diced
1/3 cup celery, diced
1/3 cup sweet onion, diced
1/3 cup pickle relish
1/2 cup Vegenaise (mayo)
sea salt and fresh ground black pepper
1 1/2 Tablespoons dehydrated sea vegetables or crushed nori (optional)

Pulse the garbanzo beans in a processor until slightly mashed and flakey - do not take them into hummous territory!

In a large bowl, combine the g-beans with the remaining ingredients and toss to combine.  Season with s&p, add more of any ingredient you like, or for that matter you can leave something out and put something else you like in.  More Vegenaise probably wouldn't hurt either.  (The optional "sea" ingredient is for those who like their salad extra phishy.)

Form the salad into a fish shape, embellish with cucumber and scallion fins/tails, pluck in a hazelnut eyeball, surround with your favorite bread, crackers, and/or chips, and enjoy.  Maybe try and save some for a two nut phish salad sandwich for lunch tomorrow?