Homemade vegan cheese cubes in a herb marinade

It was a sunny and warm summer day. I was sitting outside our cabin and called my mom. We talked about everything and then of course, we talked about food. She said she has been thinking that I could make cheese cubes, which would go well in summer salads. A bit similar to feta, but vegan. I loved the idea and started to experiment.

You wouldn't believe how great the outcome was! The marinade was perfectly balanced - herby, sweet and sour at the same time and a teeny-tiny bit garlicky. The cheese itself was already delicious, but when marinated, it became even better. It was infused with all that tangy flavor from the marinade and the texture was really soft and very cheesy. It had a texture of feta but it tasted more like a regular cheese. 

I strongly recommend you to try this out and serve this cheese with different summery salads. Ripe tomatoes, basil, beet leaves and some nuts for example. Divine! Also, why not to try it in wraps, on a sandwich or throw the cubes onto pizzas, into pastas and casseroles. I also tried to baked these cubes - absolutely delicious. Happy cooking and enjoy the summer!

Preparation time: 5 minutes active, a couple of hours passive

Serves: 3-4 people

Ingredients:

For the cheese:

• 1 ¾ cups / 400 ml soy milk (or almond milk)
• 1 tsp salt
• ½ tsp white wine vinegar or apple cider vinegar
• 2 heaping tsp agar-agar powder
• 3 heaping Tbsp nutritional yeast flakes
• 2 ½ heaping Tbsp corn starch

For the marinade:

• 1 ½ Tbsp white wine vinegar or apple cider vinegar
• 1 Tbsp unrefined sugar
• 2 Tbsp cold pressed olive oil
• ½ tsp salt
• 1 ½ Tbsp soy sauce or tamari
• ½ tsp dried oregano
• ½ tsp dried thyme
• 2 handfuls of chopped fresh herbs (basil, parsley, dill, spring onions etc.)
• 1 large clove of garlic, chopped

Directions:

Grease a medium-sized bread pan and set aside. In a small bowl, mix agar-agar with some of the milk, so it forms a liquidy batter-like texture. In a second bowl, mix corn starch with some of the milk and set aside. Both mixtures should be like a pancake batter and not too thick. Now pour the remaining milk into a saucepan and bring to a boil. Add salt and vinegar. Whisk and add agar paste. Whisk and boil for a minute. Add nutritional yeast and whisk. Boil for a moment. Add corn starch and whisk. Boil for a second and remove the heat. Pour the cheese into the greased bread pan and spread it evenly. Let it cool for a little bit and then put it in the freezer for 20 minutes. When the cheese is firm, remove it from the bread pan and cut it into medium cubes.

Make the marinade. Whisk all the ingredients together. Pour the marinade over the cheese cubes. Keep in the fridge. If you want to keep the cheese for a longer time, don't add fresh herbs and garlic to the marinade. Serve the cubes with salads, wraps, pizzas, pastas and casseroles.