Curry Cashew Butter, or Yes, Virginia, I do eat oil and other added fats

I really enjoyed your comments and tweets yesterday, in response to my piece How I Retired Before I Retired on BlogHer.com. Today in my I Eat Plants column on LoHud.com you will find my piece Victoria Moran is Taking Vegan to Main Street which includes a review of the book Main Street Vegan and an interview with the author. I do hope you will check it out. (Please consider leaving a comment there, if you are so moved!)

Now…about that Curry Cashew Butter.

I was out for a run the other morning, listening to an Our Hen House podcast, and suddenly I stopped in my tracks. Jasmin and Mariann had been describing some of the best raw vegan cheese they have ever eaten, made by Health Nut. I didn’t stop then. I stopped when they described the Health Nut nut butters. Specifically the curry cashew butter. My first thought? I can totally make this; raw cashews, curry. Done.

Not exactly. I went to the Health Nut website to see the ingredients: cashews, coconut oil, olive oil, spices and pink Himalayan salt. Ingredients that would make Dr. Furhman freak and leave no-oil, no-salt, no-sugar vegans quaking in their boots. Naturally, I decided to make the nut butter, added oils and all.

Last weekend I was in Pittsburgh and I tweeted vegan food photos throughout the weekend – because I like to show people how easy it is to eat vegan when traveling. Saturday I posted a picture of breakfast from a diner: a cup of coffee and a piece of whole grain toast with natural peanut butter. To which someone on Twitter asked:

Do you keep an eye on the amount of fat you consume??

Oh, hi, good morning to you, too, my fat-counting friend! I replied with a question:

Why do you ask?

The reply:

Why do you — I eat “mostly” vegan- do have eggs once in a great while Sometimes feel like Recipes have more fat

I assume my twitter friend was suggesting that my recipes have more fat.

More fat than what?

More fat than blogs that avoid all added oil/fat? Yep, I definitely have more fat than that. More fat than blogs that feature bacon, butter and other animal-based saturated fats? Doubt it.

My reply:

I don’t fear fat. Love whole food fats (avocados, seeds and nuts – like the nut butter on my toast) but also use oil, happily.

No response.

I’ve already tackled this issue here on the blog and you can read all about it here: What’s up with the rice and pressure cooker obsession? (+ I’m a high-fat vegan) because I’m moving on to share this delicious, nut butter recipe with added fat!

Curry Cashew Butter

by JL goes Vegan: Food & Fitness with a side of Kale

Inspired by Health Nut

Ingredients (Makes about 1.5 cups)

1.5 cups raw, unsalted cashews
1/4 teaspoon pink Himalayan salt
1/2 teaspoon curry powder
1/2 teaspoon coconut oil
1/2 teaspoon olive oil (I used cold-pressed)

Instructions

Soak cashews in filtered water for at least 20 minutes. Rinse and drain.
Place cashews in a food processor for six minutes.
At six minutes, scrape down the sides, add the remaining ingredients, and process for another six minutes. Add additional olive oil if the nut butter appears too dry.
Enjoy!

This is great as a snack on raw veggies

It also makes for a super-fabulous PB&J – err, let’s make that a CB&C (cashew butter and chutney)

This curry nut butter is divine! Rich, fabulous and a little goes a long way. I have it stored in an airtight, glass jar in the refrigerator and plan to dip into it as a snack over the next week or so.

A final note on my choice to consume added fats. A year and a half ago I stopped chasing skinny. I don’t count calories, fat or protein and I only weigh myself once a month. I eat a diet filled with vegetables, fruits, grains, legumes and beans, grains, and nuts and seeds. I use salt and oil in some of my cooking and food prep and occasionally add sugars. I am known to make slightly decadent dishes such as this nut butter and my over-the-top macnocheeto. I had my annual blood work done last month – to monitor my thyroid (I have hyperthyroidism) and my B-12 levels. The first words out of my doctor’s mouth? “Keep doing whatever you’re doing.” He went on: B-12, excellent; cholesterol, fantastic (LDL and HDL both within range); triglycerides, really excellent.

I’m going to keep doing what I’m doing.

***

Hosting a public vegan event this summer? Send me the details and I’ll add it to tomorrow’s post!

Tagged as: cashew butter, curry, i eat plants, lohud.com, main street vegan, Main Street Vegan Academy, nut butter

http://www.bring-joy.com/ Janae @ Bring-Joy

JL thanks for posting this. The discussion about fat is, to be honest, one that I tire of. I feel like I always have to give a disclaimer to my readers whenever I post something with oil, because I know many are a part of the oil-free crowd.

When I first became vegan it was through Dr. Furhman, McDougall, Esselstyn. I appreciate all they do, & agree with some of the points they make about oil being energy dense & easy to over-consume. That said, I really think following their plans strictly was messing with my mind & giving me an eating disorder! I felt when I told myself: no oils, very little seeds or nuts, nothing ever processed, I was too restrictive (again, eat disorder behavior, at least in my book).

Now I’ve loosened up, stepped away from scale, & focus more on what my body is telling me to eat, listening to it’s hunger cues, rather than worry about counting fat grams or counting each almond that eat. Funny thing is, is, I found that I eat less when I have a bit more fat in my diet. When I cut out all added fats, I always felt clamoring for more food.

Anyway, I guess I feel strongly about this because it seems to be quite a divisive issue (amongst vegans).
- http://jlgoesvegan.com JL
  
  Yep, to pretty much everything. As I made the (delicious) curry cashew butter I could already read, in my mind, the comments about oil. I decided to take the conversation out of my brain and put it out for everyone to chew on. The thing is, some people really do need to omit those items from their diets. SOME people.
  
  Because some of the loudest voices espouse the “no, no, no” I feel compelled to offer a “sometimes, sometimes, sometimes” approach.
  - Sharon
    
    Thanks for the post. You need good fats. Your brain is made up of fat and you can’t do without it. Fanaticism is not for me. Ditto whole grains. First whole grains with gluten are not good. Now even gluten free grains are not good. I seem to be allergic to quinoa so I stay away from it. But if you are not allergic to whole grains (besides quinoa I don’t have any problems) then eat them because they contain more fiber than their gluten free counterparts. And a naturopath told me that unless you have problems with gluten the sprouted grain breads (Ezekiel, Alvarado Street Bakery) are better for you than the gluten free breads (and better tasting).
    - http://jlgoesvegan.com JL
      
      Sharon, this is really great info re: sprouted grains! Thank you!
Bianca-Vegan Crunk

Fatphobia is so silly! Of course, it’s good to only consume fried foods in moderation, but healthy fats should be a part of a healthy vegan’s everyday meal plan. Our bodies need fat! I do count calories, but I never look at fat. At long as I stay within my daily calorie limit and consume fried stuff only a few times a week, I figure my healthy fat intake will take care of itself. Thanks for not being fatphobic and posting delicious healthy recipes!! Love ya, JL!
- http://jlgoesvegan.com JL
  
  Oh, girl, I knew I could count on you! We have a similar nutritional philosophy. We know what’s good and good for us, and that’s usually what we do, but we haven’t met a vegan food truck in Portland that we didn’t want to drive
Erin

This is a great post. I am about 70 lbs overweight and have been “dieting” since I was 12. I am a binge-eater and I try to restrict myself to no avail. I think my problem this whole time has been trying to control my hunger rather than just listen to it and give myself what I truly need. I’ve started consuming WAY more fruit and veggies, especially kale, and I’ve been trying not to think about grams of fat or added oils. This post was very inspirational to me. McDougall and Furhman are just way too strict for me, and I think the only way I’m ever going to get healthy is if I stop focusing so much on weight. Thanks so much…also the recipe sounds amazing.
- http://jlgoesvegan.com JL
  
  Erin, I’m really happy for you. Releasing yourself from counting and simply doing what feels right and healthy is liberating! Thank you for your comment – please keep in touch and let me know how you’re doing!
JLoS

Haha… Sounds yummy despite the whole 1 tsp of added fat ! Thanks for the recipe and the great post today. + JL’s EGG is delish.
- http://jlgoesvegan.com JL
  
  Oh, yeay! I’m so happy you like the JL-EGG! I made it again today, this time with black salt, WIN!
http://twitter.com/fitn40something Kalli and Bill

gosh i strive for more fat! if you want your skin to slow aging and your hair to look good…..we must eat fat!
- http://jlgoesvegan.com JL
  
  YES! When I moved away from a low-fat diet my skin looked so much better! Thanks for that reminder!
http://twitter.com/theveganlisa Lisa P

Your such awesomeness my friend.
- http://jlgoesvegan.com JL
  
  <3 you.
VeganLinda

I love this post as much as the gluten one. Thank you, thank you for reminding people that vegan doesn’t have to mean gluten-free or fat-free. I get why people do both, but that is not for me.
- http://jlgoesvegan.com JL
  
  I’m glad you appreciated my intent! Thank you!
Maddy

I’ll definitely be making this! Yes, added oil and all(gasp, an extra teaspoon!!). I loved this post. Healthy fats make and/or oils make an appearance in each of my meals every day. Thank You so much for addressing this. We need to stop fearing the healthy fats!
- http://jlgoesvegan.com JL
  
  You are welcome and thank you for your comment! Please let me know how you like that curry cashew butter!
Jenn

Good to hear! I do occasionally track my calories/fat/protein/etc., and my fat intake is frequently higher than recommended. I try to keep it down, but also have a similar belief to you–I’m at a healthy weight, my diet comes from whole foods, and is high in veggies, so I think it’s probably okay. I haven’t had my blood checked in several years, but I will be getting it tested next month, so we’ll see what they say.
- http://jlgoesvegan.com JL
  
  Jenn, thanks for sharing your experience. I’m really glad that folks have chimed in about their philosophies!
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sendmorecops

Just out of curiosity, what do you think of blogs/authors that DO promote a highly restrictive diet devoid of all fats? It seems like I constantly see people apologizing or having to be defensive of the fact that they eat fat/oils, because they keep getting comments about how whatever food they posted or mentioned is unhealthy.
- http://jlgoesvegan.com JL
  
  Great question! Many of those bloggers are friends of mine and I’m a fan of their recipes I just don’t necessarily that added fats are bad. And I’m sure many of them disagree with my philosophy. I do think that the low-fat / no-fat recipe blogs are numerous and do lead some people to believe that to be vegan means to eschew added fats. Which is exactly why I wrote this post!