Choosing cheezes: Veg Times almond feta

There are very few things I miss about dairy, especially with the amazing assortment of good vegan parallel products. There's just one little thing... something so seemingly insignificant that it's most often treated as a garnish. Feta! Stinky, salty, tangy goat cheese. This void is why, after dipping my toe in with last week's cashew cheeze, I was very excited to try Vegetarian Time's almond feta. Mostly because I've been dreaming of a roasted baby beet, spinach, hazelnut and feta salad dressed with fancy olive oil, balsamic vinegar, Maldon sea salt and freshly ground black pepper.

This cheeze was much easier to make than the previous one. With more water added at the blending stage, I got a beautifully smooth, fluffy whipped cream consistency. It also gave up a lot of water from the cheesecloth stage, and emerged quite cleanly in a cohesive ball. Baking gave it a nice, crusty texture. I skipped the whole herb oil part, but that would add a nice fatty mouthfeel and earthy herb flavor. Despite the amount of salt, my finished product tasted strongly tangy from the lemon juice, not salty at all. I will definitely make this again-- with more salt and less lemon juice.

Oh yeah, I also made these No-Bake Chocolate, Peanut Butter & Oatmeal Cookies. I'd never made a no-bake cookie before, and after a run with Ann during which we discussed peanut butter confections at length, these sounded perfect.

I didn't have quick oats, so I used regular rolled oats. I only made a half batch (but didn't halve the cocoa powder) just in case they didn't turn out. These were ridiculously easy to make, but absolutely must be refrigerated before consumption. I loved the creamy, salty peanut buttery fudge acting as glue to hold the oats together. The oats were a bit chewy and al-dente, which would probably be solved by using the called-for quick oats. I might make this again without the oats, just as fudge. It would be nice if it stayed solid at room temperature though.