Strawberry Cheesecake Vegan Style!

For starters, this recipe comes from the site purplecarrotkc.com.  It's a great blog based out of Kansas City.  This recipe is an exact rewriting, with a bit of commentary from me.  One thing to keep in mind, is that this cheesecake is by no means healthy, but it does provide nutrition usually absent a regular dairy based cheesecake, and it's even raw.  In other words, eat this instead!  The ingredients are expensive as well, but incredibly worth it.  I would reserve this recipe for special occasions, as the raw organic cashews I bought were $11.99 per pound.  While it's expensive, it's so easy to make that even a complete beginner like me made it perfectly on the first try.  Everybody loved it at the Super Bowl party I attended.  In fact I'm eating a piece as I write this post!


Ingredients:
Crust:
1 cup raw cashews (roasted will work as well)
1 cup pitted dates (I used dry pitted dates)
1/2 teaspoon sea salt


Filling:
3 cups raw cashews
2 teaspoons vanilla
juice of 3 lemons (about 3/4 cup)
3/4 cup coconut oil
3/4 cup agave nectar


Topping:
2 cups strawberries (fresh or frozen)
1/2 cup dates


Using a food processor or powerful blender, combine the crust ingredients and blend until fine and where it somewhat sticks together.  Pour into a 9-inch spring pan, or a square glass pan as I did, and press down until an even crust is formed.  For the filling, I would use a blender, or a higher capacity food processor as it's quite a bit of materials.  Combine all of the filling ingredients and blend until smooth.  It should be rather think like a pastry.  Pour into the pan and spread out until even.  Next blend the topping and spread on top of the filling.  Place in the freezer for an hour, and serve.  I only have mine in the freezer for 30 minutes, and it turned out wonderfully.  A definite must, even if the ingredients will likely cost around $35.