Across the globe—but particularly in New York City—a bagel with lox and cream cheese is as common as riding the subway to work. Sadly, these often-tempting breakfast staples aren’t vegan, which is why we’ve created a plant-based version using unexpected ingredients such as cashews and carrots. Whip up one of these while your morning coffee brews, and you’ve created a delicious start to your long day ahead.
What you need:
For the lox:
3 carrots
3 cups coarse salt
½ teaspoon vinegar
2 teaspoons liquid smoke
1 teaspoon olive oil
For the cashew cream cheese:
2 cups cashews, soaked
4 tablespoons water
3 tablespoons lemon juice
2 teaspoons apple cider vinegar
1 teaspoon liquid smoke
1 tablespoon nutritional yeast
5 ounces vegan yogurt
Salt and pepper
What you do:
1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees. For the lox, without peeling, wash and dry carrots, and place in casserole dish. Add a layer of salt thick enough to completely cover the carrots. Roast in oven for 90 minutes.
2. Once carrots have finished roasting, take out of the oven and let cool. The heat will create a salt shell around the carrots. With a wooden spoon, carefully crack open the shell, and lift each carrot onto a cutting board, brushing off any excess salt. Carefully slice, lengthwise, into thin, lox-like strips.
3. Place carrot strips in a tupperware, adding vinegar, liquid smoke, and olive oil. Mix carrots with liquid ingredients to coat fully. Place in refrigerator, and let marinate up to three days.
4. For the cashew cream cheese, either soak cashews overnight, or, to save time, boil 4 cups water and let 2 cups cashews soak in boiled water for 15 minutes. Add soaked cashews to a high-speed blender, adding water, lemon juice, apple cider vinegar, liquid smoke, nutritional yeast, and non-dairy yogurt, and blend until smooth. Add salt and pepper to taste.
5. To serve, slice your favorite vegan bagel in half, slather each side with cashew cream cheese, layer on vegan lox, and top with garnishes such as with capers, red onion, and fresh dill.
