Vegan ‘smoked salmon’ and ‘cream cheese’ bagel
Vegan lox! Blended tofu and soaked cashews give a creamy finish, while salt-baked carrots marinated in seaweed replace smoked salmon in this plant-based version of the classic bagel filling.
Ingredients
For the ‘cream cheese’
- 300²µ/10½´Ç³ú block firm tofu
- 300²µ/10½´Ç³ú soaked cashews (see Recipe Tips), drained
- 2 tbsp apple cider vinegar
- 1 tsp garlic powder
- 1 tsp salt
- 3 tbsp nutritional yeast
- 1 spring onion, green part, chopped (optional)
For the ‘smoked salmon’
- 5–10 carrots
- 300²µ/10½´Ç³ú salt
- 5 tbsp dulse seaweed (or alternatively 1 sheet nori)
- 1 tbsp agave syrup
- 1 tbsp liquid smoke or smoked paprika
- 2 tbsp soy sauce
- 1 tbsp white wine vinegar
- 1 sprig fresh dill
- 1 lemon juice
- 1 tsp miso
To serve
- 8 bagels
- 2 tbsp drained capers
- 2 tbsp fresh dill, chopped
- freshly ground black pepper
- 1 lemon, cut into wedges
Method
To make the ‘cream cheese’, put the tofu, soaked cashews, apple cider vinegar, garlic powder, salt and nutritional yeast in a blender. Add some spring onion green if you like. Blend until smooth. Set aside.
To make the ‘smoked salmon’, preheat the oven to 200C/Fan 180C/Gas 5. Tip half of the salt in to cover the base of a baking dish. Add the carrots to the dish, placing them so that they do not touch the bottom of the dish and do not touch the other carrots. Pour the rest of the salt over to cover the carrots.
Bake in the oven for 40 minutes to an hour, until just tender.
Once cooked, set aside to cool and then peel the carrots, discard the salt and transfer the carrots to a non-reactive bowl.
Combine the dulse seaweed (or nori), 100ml/3½fl oz hot water, agave syrup, liquid smoke, soy sauce, vinegar, dill, lemon juice and miso and mix together. Pour this mixture over the carrots. Leave to marinate for at least 24 hours but the longer the better.
To serve, toast a fresh bagel and top with the ‘cream cheese’ you can serve with capers, dill, black pepper and lemon, or simply serve the ‘cream cheese’ topped with the ‘smoked salmon’.
Recipe Tips
To soak the cashews, you can use the boiling method where you bring the cashews and enough water to submerge them to the boil in a pan, then simmer for 15 minutes. Add cold water to cool and then drain and rinse. Alternatively, you can soak the cashews in hot water for about an hour, or room temperature water overnight.
