The Best Cheesy Sauce
Tired of trying to get your kiddos to eat their vegetables to no avail? Let them dip their cruciferous veggies in this pot of gold and be prepared for "more please!" Even the sauce itself is packed with nutrient dense ingredients - let them lick the bowl --- if they get to it before you do.
Complex and decadent flavors created simply by dumping and whirling. If you choose to use the canned butternut squash puree over roasting the squash, this amazing cheesy sauce comes together in less than 5 minutes.
NOTE:
Quarantined notes included at end of recipe.
Ingredients
Setup
1/2 cup cashews, soaked for 30 minutes
3/4 cups low sodium vegetable broth + 1/2 to drizzle in later
1 cup cooked cannellini beans
1 cup cooked butternut squash -OR- 3/4 cup of canned butternut squash puree (found in the baking aisle next to the canned pumpkin)*
1 1/2 tablespoons mild miso paste*
3 tablespoons nutritional yeast*
juice of one-half lemon
Directions
Preheat oven to 375.
Peel and cut up a butternut squash into similar sized pieces. Line a baking tray with parchment paper and bake the squash for 50 minutes. Measure out about one cup of squash to use in recipe.
Drain and rinse the cashews. Add them to a blender with the 3/4 cup broth and blend until creamy. Add the beans, squash, miso, nutritional yeast and lemon. Blend again until creamy. Drizzle in the remainder of the broth as necessary. The sauce will thicken as it chills
Will last 4-5 days in the fridge in a sealed container.
*3/24/2020 Quarantine Notes:
Grocery shelves are slim, so here are a few workarounds for your cheesy sauce.
If you cannot find butternut squash or the canned variety, a very well cooked medium-sized sweet potato is a good stand-in. After cooking, scrape out the insides and add to the blender.
No miso paste in the house? If you have 3-4 sundried tomatoes, pop those in one by one (tasting as you go) and that will add that layer you are looking for. Otherwise, skip it, but do add a pinch of salt as miso is also savory.
If you don't have nutritional yeast, please do get it when you have the opportunity. It's like space food; it lasts forever! If you have an orange carrot, roughly chop that sucker up and give it a quick steam (just until it starts to turn bright orange, but not soft) and add that to your blend. It will add an earthiness that the yeast offers.
