Vegan Cheese Sauce That Children Love !

I found this amazingly great recipe for vegan cheese sauce that has me craving it,  the kids love it, it’s now my one recipe my daughter both asks for and eats (vegetables and all) and, it’s even simpler than making cheese sauce! It’s not literacy, although one could say there is literacy everywhere – since following a recipe in itself is a great literacy exercise my daughter, as a struggling reader, loved. But regardless…. it really is just SO good I have to share.

Vegan Cheese Sauce

• 1/4 C. raw cashews or almonds
  
• 1 C. hot water
  
• 2  T. + 1 t. tapioca starch (or suitable alternative flour, eg corn flour, even works with standard flour)
• 1 T. extra virgin olive oil (optional)
• 1 small garlic clove, minced
• 3/4  t. alt
  
• 1 t. lemon juice

Put all ingredients in a blender (a hand blender works best or a food processor will work) and once smooth, then place in a pot and simmer while stirring until thick – approx. 30 to 60 seconds….So simple right?

Mix the cheese sauce with some pasta, ideally add some vegetables too, and serve the same way you would an ordinary cheese sauce. It also goes great with broccoli or baked potatoes. I myself love it with fettuccini or ravioli and vegetables. Of course most kids love macaroni cheese and it also works for lasagna.

All the eat healthy advice these days says to avoid dairy when possible, and it’s much better for weight loss to choose the vegan option. Now all these favourites can be made vegan and still taste awesome. I tried to change to vegan completely after breast cancer, but I really craved cheese, especially in a sauce, this was finally an answer to my prayers – and as I mentioned, it was so successful with my family, and tastes so great the kids don’t even notice the vegetables that they usually try to pick out.

Alternative Uses – Vegan White Sauce

I’ve also used this recipe as a white sauce, just reduce the amount of lemon and garlic to have a more bland flavour, then try some of the following options

• add mushrooms for mushroom sauce;
• add herbs for a herb sauce;
• add more garlic and parsley for a garlic sauce.

Simply add the flavour to the finished sauce just like one would with a white sauce

Enjoy!!!

-I’m just thinking now, I always make this with my little hand mixer in a bowl, there’d be nothing stopping me mixing it in the pot, save some washing…lol.