With Cashews and Nutritional Yeast, One Can Make Almost Anything!

These are gooey vegan quesadillas!

I followed a recipe by Carrots and Flowers , then added a few touches to make it my own.... ie. the pine nut.basil pesto, on top.

The "mozzarella cheese" comes out melty and gooey because of the ingredient, tapioca starch, which I was surprised that I was able to find it at my local healthfood store, Indigo Iris. I don't like cheese, but I like the taste of nutritional yeast.... and a lot of people say that nutritional yeast tastes like cheese.... so, it is a double blessing in that it only tastes like cheese to people that like cheese.

Here are the full recipe and instructions that I followed:

Ingredients

• 8 tortillas medium
• 1/2 cup raw cashews
• 1/4 cup tapioca flour (also called tapioca starch)
• 1 tsp lemon juice
• 1 1/4 cup water
• 1 1/2 tbsp nutritional yeast
• 3/4 tsp sea salt
• 1/2 tsp garlic powder
• 1/2 tsp white pepper

Easy Chipotle Cream

• 1/2 cup soaked cashews
• 3/4 cup salsa
• 1/4 tsp chili powder
• 1/4 tsp sea salt

Instructions

1. Soak cashews for two hours or overnight for the cashew mozzarella and chipotle cream. You can also boil them for ten minutes to soften. Drain the cashews. In a high-powered blender or food processor, add 1/2 cup soaked cashews and the remaining ingredients until the white pepper. Blend on high speed for 2 minutes until smooth. 
2. Pour the cashew mixture in a saucepan over medium high heat. Cook for 5 minutes until the cheese forms into a gooey ball in the center. Stir constantly to prevent sticking. The cheese will stay fairly soft. 
3. To make a large vegan quesadilla, spread 1/4 cup of cashew mozzarella onto one tortilla. Spread 2 tablespoons of cashew cream onto another tortilla. Combine the tortillas. In a skillet over medium heat, cook the Vegan Quesadilla on 30-45 seconds on each side until the tortillas are crispy and the cheese is melty. Cut into triangles and serve with extra chipotle cream and avocado!
   
   

I have to say that the blogger of Carrots and Flowers had more patience in waiting for the tortillas to come out a deeper golden brown... and her photos do more justice, but since this post is about how the recipe worked for me, as a first time trier, it is also about how MY tortillas turned out, so these are my tortillas. Both my husband and I were impressed.He LOVED them.... and I did, too, though I liked them even more, the next morning after being in the fridge, overnight. I don't know why.