Recipes XXII: Cashew Cream Sauce

One thing holding me back from fully giving up dairy is cheese. Oh delicious morphine, pus, antibiotic and hormone rich -cheese! Sounds delicious right? That's when I met Cashews. I have hated cashews plain by themselves. But when blended up right with herbs and nooch, they morph into a glorious sauce you want to get inside. These nuts can make a sauce for your pasta you can feel good about indulging in, instead of guilty!

Cashew Sauce (adapted from Vegweb.com)

1/2 cup raw cashews
3 tbsp -1/3 cup of nutritional yeast
1.5 tsp pink salt
Dash of pepper
1-2 tbsp olive oil
1 squirt of lemon juice
1 cup of water from boiled pasta (contains starch)

For Alfredo: Less nutritional yeast, garlic
For macaroni and cheese: more nutritional yeast, thyme, parsley
For thin cream sauce (ie: salad dressing): more pasta water
For sweeten condensed milk: less water, add sugar, a bit of corn starch and vanilla extract in place of herbs and salt

Blend the nuts into a fine powder. Add herbs, lemon juice, oil and yeast and blend until uniform. Pour in water and salt. Blend until thickens. Adjust as needed for thickness and desired dish.