Buckwheat Blinis with Carrot Lox & Cashew Cheeze.

Eek it's almost Christmas! If you're lucky enough to be getting together with either friends or family then food is probably on the agenda. ⁠

⁠There's a load of sprouts recipes knocking about out there (side note, I love sprouts!) so I thought I'd go off piste and post a canapé recipe instead.⁠

The best thing about these tasty little bites is that you can make them vegan or not depending on the hungry mouths you're feeding. Simply change the carrot lox for some delicious low mercury (see my previous post) wild smoked salmon. ⁠

MERRY CHRISTMAS!

⁠

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Buckwheat Blinis with Carrot Lox & Cashew Cheeze

Yield: 18-20 small blinis

Author: Sally Dixon

Ingredients

Blinis

• 85g buckwheat flour
• 1 tsp baking powder
• ½ tsp salt
• 150 ml almond milk
• 1 flax 'egg' (1 tbsp flaxseed, 3 tbsp warm water mixed and refrigerated for 15mins)
• Olive oil to cook (10g)

Cashew Cheeze

• 100g cashew nuts, (pre-soaked in hot water for 15 minutes)
• 1 lemon
• ½ tbsp nutritional yeast
• ½ tsp apple cider vinegar
• ½ tsp salt

Carrot Lox

• 4 large carrots
• 1 tsp sea salt, for boiling
• 3 tbsp extra-virgin olive oil
• 3 tbsp caper brine
• 1 tbsp rice vinegar
• 1 tbsp liquid smoke
• ½ tsp smoked paprika
• Big squeeze fresh lemon juice
• Freshly ground black pepper
• Fresh dill and capers to garnish

Instructions

1. First make the carrot lox. Place carrots and 1 tsp of salt into a pot, cover with water and bring to a boil. Boil for 5-10 mins until fork-tender but not mushy. They should hold their shape when cut. Transfer carrots to ice-cold water immediately. This will stop them from continuing to cook. Allow to cool for a few mins, then place onto a wire cooling rack to dry.
2. Make the carrot lox marinade. In a shallow dish or small bowl, combine the olive oil, caper brine, rice vinegar, liquid smoke, smoked paprika, lemon juice, and several grinds of freshly ground black pepper.
3. Using a very sharp knife or a peeler slice the dry carrots lengthwise into thin sashimi-style 'salmon' pieces and place into the marinade. Pop in the fridge and allow to marinate for a few hours, overnight is best (can be made the day before).
4. Next make the cashew cheese. Drain and rinse the cashew nuts. Place the nuts, nutritional yeast, lemon juice, apple cider vinegar and salt in a blender. Blend to a smooth consistency, scraping down the side of the blender regularly. Taste and adjust the seasoning as desired using the salt, lemon juice and or/vinegar. (Can be made the day before, store in an airtight container).
5. Next make the blinis. In a bowl, mix the buckwheat flour with the baking powder and salt. Make a hole in the middle of the dry mixture and add the almond milk and flaxseed 'egg'. Whisk lightly together to form a smooth batter.
6. Heat a large frying pan over a moderate heat and add the oil, spreading it evenly across the pan. When the pan is warm, spoon 1 tbsp of batter at a time to make small round pancakes. Depending on the size of your pan you should be able to cook 4-5 at once.
7. Cook for approximately 3 minutes each side. When slightly browned on both sides and when lots of air bubbles appear, remove from the pan and place on kitchen roll or a wire rack while you cook the rest of the batter.
8. Assemble the canapés with cashew cheese, carrot lox, capers and dill to garnish. I like to make a quenelle (an oval shape) with the cashew cheeze using 2 spoons. Option to use wild smoked salmon instead of carrot lox to top the blinis.

Did you make this recipe?

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