#faux lox

[happyhealthybalanced]

[ghjco]

Plant-Based Cream Cheese + Faux Lox (V,GF)

We’ve just recently become aware that there is such a thing as a carrot-based vegan lox. We heard rumours of its deliciousness, but we couldn’t just recommend it to you, dear friends, without doing our own investigative research. Our intrepid recipe-testers consumed many, many well-schmeared rings—for you! It’s amazing, they report.

Faux Cheese Ingredients:

1 cup soaked cashews

4 tbsp lemon juice

Salt, to taste

3 tbsp plant-based yogurt or soft tofu

1 to 2 tbsp water or almond milk (if you need more liquid to get your blender going)

Steps:

Soak your cashews overnight, then drain and add the nuts to your blender or food processor with all the other ingredients—excluding the water or almond milk.

Blend until smooth, adding water or almond milk if needed.

Top with your favourite toppings! Cucumber, radishes, jam, roasted tomatoes, avocado, apples, or whatever else pleases you. We must insist you continue onto the plant-based lox.

Lox Ingredients:

4 large carrots, washed but not peeled

3 cups coarse sea salt

1 tbsp avocado oil, for marinade

1.5 to 2 tsp liquid smoke, for marinade

¼ tsp tamari, for marinade

½ tsp apple cider vinegar, for marinade

Lox Steps:

Preheat your oven to 375 F.

Place 1.5 cups coarse salt on the base of a glass baking dish and lay your washed (but still wet) carrots on the salt. Top carrots with your remaining salt, making sure they are all well-covered. Bake for an hour to about an hour and a half.

Remove from the heat when your carrots have softened and let them cool completely. Crack away at the salt block that has formed on top, and remove your carrots. They should be tender enough to peel away the skins. Pro Tip: If you’re into skins, leave them on! We’d suggest nixing the tamari in your marinade if you’ve gone this route.

Cut your carrots into long strips and set them aside while you make your marinade.

In a mixing dish, combine all your marinade ingredients together and then place your carrot strips in the dish. Make sure each strip is well-coated. Let this sit in the fridge for at least a full 24 hours. Have patience—it’s worth it. 

Serve at room temperature over plant-based cream cheese and add your other favourite fixins!

-Elena Mari and Nathan Legiehn for GHJC