I share this post with you in the spirit of  the new year.  I decided it would be good to make something new, something healthy, something that would make me feel like I was starting the year off in a clean living sort of way.

I’ve never attempted to make a nut milk before. I started to go down the rabbit hole of research about various types of nut milks. There are so many options that are easy to make and healthy. I  discovered that a cup of cashew milk contains 50% of our daily vitamin E needs, which is good for your skin and helps protect against sun damage. A cup of cashew milk also contains 13 percent of our daily value for iron and 25 percent for magnesium. I’m not going to pretend I know what the value of magnesium consumption is. However, after more research, I learned that magnesium works with hundreds of enzymes that produce energy and synthesize proteins.  Cashew milk seemed like it fit my requirement of making something new and good for me.

This cashew milk recipe is from a resort in Napa Valley which I’ve had the pleasure of dining at, but have never stayed. The resort’s recipe is rich and creamy, with hints of sweetness and a nutty texture. Am I going to give up dairy milk? No way. But  after trying my homemade cashew milk in smoothies and oatmeal, I definitely have a new appreciation.

My kitchen notes

You can play around with the thickness of your cashew milk by adjusting the amount of water in the recipe.

Cashew Milk – adapted from Meadowood Resort 

Ingredients

6 cups raw cashews

4-6 cups water

6 Medjool dates, pitted

1 vanilla bean, scraped

1 tablespoon ground cinnamon

1/2 teaspoon sea salt

Directions

1. Cover the cashews in water and soak for 6-8 hours in the refrigerator.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

2. Strain out the water and place cashews in a blender along with the dates, vanilla, cinnamon and sea salt.

3. Add a cup of fresh water at a time, blending the ingredients and adding more water until smooth and desired consistency is reached.

4. Pass through a fine mesh sieve or cheese cloth and strain.

5. Keep in an air tight container in the fridge for up to two weeks.