Vegan Mofo Day 4: in which my blender gets a lot of use

This evening I got home from a long day of email-answering, grade-calibrating, and Evelina-reading, and wanted to do nothing more than spend my night in the kitchen. And that is exactly what I did.

After whipping up a quick dinner of sauteed garlic, ginger, kelp, and purple kale, in a simple miso-tahini sauce (served over more white rice -- naturopath's order!) I turned to the four huge jars of nuts that I'd left soaking overnight: macadamia, almonds, cashews, and walnuts. I had a plan to make an exciting surprise or to for my aforementioned foodie friend (who surprised me the day after my exam with a delightful raw chocolate torte).

First up: Mini Lime Cheeseackes

(date-macadamia-coconut crust)

(blending up the filling with my trusty Bamix)

(the completed cheesecakes, ready to go in the freezer)

I was inspired here by The Healing Kitchen's award-winning Key Lime Mini Pies, and decided to do a cheesecakey spin on them using my adorable little ramekins. The crust is a combination of soaked macadamia nuts, medjool dates, and unsweetened shredded coconut, with a little splash of agave nectar to help things blend (NB: I adore my Bamix, but making all these raw desserts with it is a pain in the butt!). The filling is half a ripe avocado, about 1 cup of soaked cashews, agave to taste, and the juice and zest of one lime. The avocado gave it a lovely light green huge, and the filling is so fluffy and zesty compared to the buttery richness of the crust. I can't wait until these babies are ready!

But because I can't leave good enough alone: Spiced Chocolate Orange Cheesecake

The crust, pictured above, consists of a fistful each of soaked almonds and walnuts, a liberal tbsp of cocoa powder, one medjool date, and about 1/4 tsp each of cinnamon, nutmeg, ginger, and cloves. The filling (not pictured, but amply sampled) is soaked cashews blended up with agave nectar, cocoa powder, and the juice of 1/2 an orange. It's richer and denser than the lime-avocado-cashew mix, but still incredibly delicious. I only made one of these, so somebody better be willing to share!

I find raw or semi-raw concoctions incredibly fun and satisfying to make. They're very messy and tactile and interactive and experimental... but I think I might need a better blender/food processor.