Almond Feta - No Added Oil

I used the end of our macadamia and pumpkin seed cheese in Dan’s lunch today so I knew I needed to make more. About a year ago I posted a recipe for almond feta which I loved. However, it contained olive oil and I didn’t want to use that any more. Today I decided to make it without oil and it turned out really well. I think this may be a function of my how much my taste buds have changed in only a year. Whatever the reason I am happy I made this today. Here is what I did:

Almond Feta - No Added Oil
Makes approximately 1 cup or 16 tablespoons

Ingredients:
1 cup almonds, soaked for 8 hours and blanched
1 lemon, zested and juiced
1 small clove garlic, peeled and smashed
¾ teaspoon sea salt
Approximately 1 tablespoon water

Directions:

Blanch almonds by simmering them quickly in water (5 minutes is more than enough). You are trying to loosen the skins. Move the almonds to a bowl and cover them with cold water. Using your fingers rub the nuts together to loosen the skin. Separate the nuts from their skins and drain the nuts.

Place the nuts in your food processer with lemon zest, lemon juice and sea salt. Process the nuts until you have a fine meal. Ultimately you want the nut cheese to begin to form a ball in your food processor. If this doesn’t happen add a little water a teaspoon at a time until the ball forms. Taste for seasoning and add salt if necessary. Refrigerate until need. Nut cheese seems to last for a week or more in the refrigerator for me.

Nutritional Information per tablespoon:

Amount Per Serving
Calories - 54.22
Calories From Fat (71%)-  38.46

Total Fat - 4.59g
Saturated Fat - 0.35g
Cholesterol - 0mg
Sodium - 66.73mg
Potassium - 68.2mg
Total Carbohydrates - 2.28g
Fiber - 1.01g
Sugar - 0.56g
Protein - 2.02g

Comments:

This healthier version of almond feta exceeded my expectations. I can honestly say now I won’t miss the prior version with oil. Yay! If I hadn’t promised to make Japanese tonight this would be turning up in dinner. But I guess Greek food can wait until tomorrow.

I would describe this nut cheese as a little salty and definitely lemony. If you aren’t a huge fan of lemon I do suggest you leave out the zest or add much less of it. I happen to adore lemon so that never happens here. The texture of the cheese is like a well drained ricotta. The garlic is so mild I couldn’t detect it in the cheese, which was good. If you still eat dairy cheese, or use oil in your cooking you may want to try the original recipe first. For everyone that follows an oil free diet this is really good. I hope you give it a try.

Unrelated note:

Today the sun is out and I am one happy camper. The rain yesterday had me in a bit of a blah mood. But today is completely different. The sun is shining and we are supposed to reach the mid 70’s. Sounds like a perfect spring day to me. I am going to spend some time outside and enjoy the weather.

The mint in my garden is really coming up now. I may need to harvest some today and make myself a nice mint green tea. I have been trying to use mint in more dishes. Do you have any favorite recipes that use mint that you would like to share?

I am going to make myself a little lunch now and head outside to enjoy the sunshine. I will be back later with a Japanese inspired dinner. I hope you are all having a great day!