What are you doing here?

If you’re on this page, you’re probably interested in vegan dairy alternatives! Whether you’re here for the Avellana extractor or for the Avellana Vegan cultures, or even if you ended up here by accident, you’re definitely in the right place.

Check out our video for the super awesome excellent never been seen before Avellana Separator campaign!! Below that, you’ll find a treasure trove of info on our super potent Avellana Vegan Cultures, for making vegan cheeses and veggie ferments

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Interested in culturing foods? Making vegan cheese? Maybe you’re just getting started, maybe you’ve got loads of experience…either way, this is the place for you!

You probably already know about why cultured foods are good for you. Both raw and cooked (heat killed) probiotics have been shown over and over again to be super important to helping balance our gastrointestinal system, killing pathogenic bacteria, and helping to fight inflammation.

Fermented foods have been used by humans both, medicinally and as everyday foods, for thousands and thousands of years. In modern times, we have moved away from eating cultured foods as much because we started using modern preservation methods like canning and freezing. Transportation of goods has become lightening fast, allowing us to eat fresh vegetables year round.

But more and more doctors, naturopaths, and scientists are recommending a return to cultured foods for health and well-being. This site will inform all about HOW to culture non dairy products to create fantastically delicious vegan foods. We try to think outside of the box, creating recipes as simply as possible, to give you more time to enjoy your full and rich lives! We don’t always post perfectly lit and staged photos…we’re about getting it done and making it delicious. We’re about helping you to learn how to make awesome food, simply.

What you will need:

  • You will most definitely need the worlds best vegan culture to speed your process and make this easier than ever! In case you didn’t notice the hyper link above, here’s a no brainer-

Avellana Vegan Cultures

A super potent culturing mix for making dairy free yogurts and cheeses. (Cost includes shipping.)

$15.00

Avellana Vegan Cultures CANADIAN SHIPPING OPTION

A super potent culturing mix for making dairy free yogurts and cheeses. (Cost includes shipping TO CANADA)

$13.25

  • A fermentation station
  • A method to remove the fiber from the protein and fat in the non-dairy milk (I use panty hose. Not pretty, but she gets the job done!)

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There is also a forum in the side bar links. Have a question? Post it there and we will answer and others can join in with their observations and tips as well! We’re just getting started, so don’t be shy. If you have a questions, somebody else probably has the same questions…so ask away!

Susana Romatz2 Comments

Falafel pita with cultured tzatziki, cultured turnips and beets, and spinach

What you’ll need:

For the tzatziki

  • 1 1/2 c easy soy yogurt
  • 1/2 cucumber
  • 2 T dill (dry)
  • 1 T lemon juice
  • 3 cloves smooshed garlic
  • 1/2 t salt
  • Pinch black pepper
  • 2 T olive oil

For the cultures beets and turnips

For the sandwich

  • Falafel (you can make your own, I used this recipe, or buy pre made)
  • Spinach
  • Pita bread (I used B Free gluten free pitas-they’re quite good!)

The fermented turnips and beets will need to be made a day in advance. Peel and slice your turnip and beet and add to a quart jar. Mix up two cups of water with one tablespoon water and one blue scoop of Avellana cultures. Pour over the beets and turnips and place in your fermentation station at around 100 degrees for 24 hours. Weight the veggies down so they stay submerged. Remove after 24 hours.

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The tzatziki is easy! Whisk the yogurt in a bowl until smooth.

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Peel and grate the cucumber (no need to deseed the cucumber) and squeeze it really hard to get the excess water out. Add it to the yogurt along with the rest of the ingredients and stir it up!

Cook up your falafel, slice up your spinach, and throw them all together! So delicious.

Susana RomatzLeave a comment

Cultured cauliflower Alfredo with gnocchi, arugula, and acorn squash

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What you need:

  • 1/2 of one small cauliflower
  • 2 tablespoons nutritional yeast
  • 1/4 c raw onion
  • 1.5 c easy soy yogurt
  • 1/2 teaspoon Italian herb spice
  • salt to taste

For the gnocchi:

  • one package gnocchi (I used Trader Joe cauliflower gnocchi, soft and chewy!)
  • one small acorn squash
  • one bag arugula greens

How to make it:

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. Cut the acorn squash in half. Scoop out the seeds and spread them on a baking sheet. I pre-scored the squash to make it easier to scoop after baking. Also, I’m not too picky about cleaning the stingy stuff off the seeds, I think it adds flavor.

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Cut up the cauliflower and put it on a sheet (you can put it all on one if you want. Easy cleaning!)

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Roast the veggies until they are done. You’ll have to stir the seeds at least once and remove them after about ten minutes. Flip the squash after about fifteen minutes. Stir the cauliflower to keep from burning.

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Once every thing is cooked, put the Alfredo ingredients into the blender and blend until warm.

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Cook your gnocchi as instructed. I pan fried the cauliflower gnocchi in oil until browned. Wilt the arugula (add to warm pot and cook just long enough to wilt it.) You can drain the arugula in a colander if you want to. I usually don’t because I don’t like to waste the nutrients in the water that cook out, unless it’s really going to mess up my plating.

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Stir the gnocchi and squash cubes into the arugula.

Top with Alfredo sauce and garnish with the baked squash seeds. Yum!

Susana RomatzLeave a comment

Cultured cashew cream

What you need-

Blend the cashews until smooth, adding just enough water to blend easily. You can make it thicker but you may need to scrape the cashew butter down from the sides. Stir in salt and cultures, cover to avoid developing a skin, and place in your fermentation station for 8 hours.

You can add in any number of seasonings. I make it plain so that I can utilize it for multiple applications.

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Roasted romanesco broccoli with cultured cashew and persimmon sauce

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What you need-

  • 1 head Romanesco broccoli
  • 4 tablespoons cultured cashew cream
  • 1-2 persimmons
  • 2 apples
  • 2 shallots
  • 1 tablespoon olive oil
  • seasoning

Preheat your oven to 375 degrees. Chop the apples, potato and shallots, drizzle with olive oil. I sprinkled on a little Italian herb spice and salt. Roast until soft.

Lightly core and cover the Romanesco broccoli with foil and roast for 30 minutes. Uncover and roast for another five for a little browning. Check from time to time to ensure it doesn’t burn.

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Place cultured cashew cream in the blender along with the flesh of the persimmon, 1/2 shallot, a pinch of salt, and a pinch of chipotle (optional). You can add other seasoning as desired.

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When everything is done roasting, drizzle the cream sauce on and serve! The light sweetness of the persimmon cashew sauce perfectly matches the sweetness in the roasted apples. It makes for a great sweet and savory dinner.

Susana RomatzLeave a comment

Vegan spaghetti carbonara with cultured cream, smokey shiitake, and black salt

Traditional carbonara is a hot pasta dish made with pork, cream, eggs, and pepper. Here I veganized the recipe, also making it a lot healthier, using a base of baked zucchini, cauliflower, and cultured soy yogurt for the cream sauce.

What you need-

Cream sauce

  • one small head cauliflower
  • three-four zucchini
  • one tablespoon olive oil
  • one tablespoon tamari
  • black pepper
  • 1/4 c nutritional yeast
  • 1/2 easy soy yogurt
  • one teaspoon black salt
  • one small onion
  • one teaspoon lemon juice

Shiitake bacun

  • 1/2 to one pound shiitake mushrooms
  • tamari (drizzled)
  • olive oil (drizzled)
  • one tablespoon liquid smoke

Pasta

  • one package spaghetti of choice
  • salted water

I ran across this vegan parmesan cheese at Whole Foods the other day and WOW! It’s really good. I used it at the end of the recipe as the “hard cheese” component of traditional carbonara.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Chop up the zucchini and cauliflower, put it on a sheet pan, and drizzle with olive oil, tamari, and black pepper. Put it in the oven.

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Chop the shiitakes into slices and drizzle with tamari, olive oil, and liquid smoke on a sheet pan. Put in oven with the vegetables.

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You’ll need to check and flip both the veggies and the mushrooms several times to avoid burning them. When the veggies are finished they should be soft and browned. The bacun should be chewy and NOT burned to a blackened crisp 🙂 They will get crunchier as they cool.

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Put the salted water on to boil once the veggies and bacun are finished.

Put the roasted veggies and the rest of the cream sauce ingredients into the blender and blend until smooth and warmed through. If the vegetables are still hot from the oven you can blend them for a shorter period. This sauce doesn’t get cooked again though and will need to be warm enough to cook the onion. It doesn’t have to be smoking hot, but definitely warm.

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Cook your pasta and plate everything up. I use more black pepper, Italian herbs, and a little Frank’s hot sauce to finish the plate. Delicious!!

Susana Romatz1 Comment

Prairie Fire bean dip with vegan cheese sauce

In the late 90’s, one of our most favorite things to do was to go to Don Pablo’s Mexican restaurant and order a bowl of prairie fire bean dip. It was sooooo good and soooo cheap. They made fresh flour tortillas to dip in it and it was awesome. Alas, Don Pablo’s closed and we moved away. Recently my little sister mentioned this dip and oh dang, I couldn’t stop thinking about it!! So I went about making a vegan version…I think I did pretty well, though admittedly, it’s been about a decade.

What you need-

Cheezy sauce-

  • one small onion
  • 1/2 c cashews
  • 1/4 c nutrition yeast
  • 1/4 c salsa
  • one jalepeño
  • salt to taste
  • 1/4 c water

Place this all in your blender and blend til heated through (around one minute).

For beans-

  • two cans refried beans
  • one can green chilis
  • one cup easy soy yogurt
  • Tortillas (flour or corn) oven heated in foil for 10 minutes.

Heat the beans, add as much cheese sauce as you like, salt and season as desired. If you like it chunky, leave it as is. I prefer the the smooth creamy like Don Pablo’s used to do, so I put it all back in the blender and blended it smooth. Add sour cream yogurt, salsa, garnishes and serve!

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