Got a minute? Get ch-yeeze-y!

Seriously, you can have ch-yeeze that look like this in less than 5 minutes. I like to call this, ch-yeeze. It's not cheese, it's a nice little sauce.  Sometimes the girls like ch-yeeze and sometimes they don't. I always do and it's easy to make. I love it with broccoli; of course, it goes well with any veggie on a tortilla, too! If you're feeling traditional, put it over macaroni.



 

Here's the recipe for the 5-minute version of the ch-yeeze sauce:

• 3/4 cup unsweetened, unflavored almond milk (or more as needed to thin out)
• 6 tbsp nutritional yeast (Bob’s Red Mill makes one in natural food section of most grocery stores or bulk food stores)
• 1 tbsp all purpose flour (or other flour)
• 2 tsp Dijon mustard
• 1/4 tsp garlic powder
• 1/4 tsp onion powder
• 1/2 tsp kosher salt & freshly ground black pepper, to taste

1.  Add milk and flour mixture and whisk together in a pan over low heat.  
2.  Add nutritional yeast and whisk some more.
3. Add Dijon, garlic powder, onion powder, salt and pepper to taste and whisk frequently until the sauce thickens up (less than 5 minutes). If it’s still too thin you can add more flour to achieve the thickness you desire. 

Note:  I've never had any problems with it thickening. It's usually super thick in 3 minutes.

Read more: http://ohsheglows.com/2011/08/18/quick-dirty-5-ingredient-vegan-cheeze-sauce-recipe-challenge/#ixzz2T8suGiDI

I'd never played around with nutritional yeast until my best friend from high school (KJ) made a homemade mac-n-nutrional-yeast-cheese dish when we visited. After KJ made that for me, I got hooked on nutrtitional yeast. I first made this mac-n-ch-yeeze recipe on Christmas Eve when my bestest vegan friend and I had a cooking fest day. This version takes longer, but it is mighty tasty!

Recipes from Oh She Glows (full credit to her everything in italics is from her site).
Ingredients:

• 1/2 medium potato, peeled and chopped (about 1/4-1/3 cup)
• 1/2 large carrot, peeled and chopped (about 1/2 cup)
• 1/2 small onion, peeled and chopped (about 1/4-1/3 cup)
• 1.5 cups raw cashews
• 1 cup unsweetened almond milk
• 4 garlic cloves
• 6 tbsp fresh lemon juice
• 3 tsp kosher salt
• 2 tbsp nutritional yeast
• Freshly ground black pepper, to taste
• 1 tsp mustard
• ~300-340 grams dry/uncooked Macaroni or other pasta (I used whole wheat rotini)
• 1 slice bread
• 1 tbsp Earth Balance or butter (I left this out!)
• Fresh or dried parsley, to garnish (optional)
• Paprika, to garnish

Directions: Preheat oven to 350F. Grab a small casserole dish and set aside. In a medium sized pot, add the chopped potatoes, carrots, and onion and fill with water until just covered. Bring to a boil and then reduce to low-medium heat. Cook for about 15 minutes until tender.
Meanwhile, process 1 slice of bread until crumbs form in a food processor. Add in 1 tbsp of Earth Balance (or butter) and process until incorporated. Place in a small bowl and set aside.
Now assemble your cheese sauce ingredients (cashews, almond milk, garlic, lemon, salt, yeast, pepper, mustard) and add just the cashews to food processor. Process until a fine crumb forms similar to corn meal. Now add in the rest of the cheese sauce ingredients and process until smooth.
Once the veggies are cooked, drain and add to cheese sauce mixture in food processor. Process until smooth.

Add your pasta to a medium sized pot and fill with water until the pasta is covered by about 1 inch or so. Bring to a boil and reduce to low, cooking for about 7 more minutes. Drain and rinse with cold water.

In a large bowl, mix together your cheese sauce and drained + rinsed pasta. Scoop into your casserole dish and sprinkle with the breadcrumb mixture. Now garnish with paprika and bake in the oven for 30 minutes at 350F.  Allow to cool for about 10 minutes before serving. Sprinkle with chopped fresh parsley or dried parsley if you’d like.
Serves approx 4-6.
Note: This is a heavy and drier mac ‘n cheese. If you want it less dry, you might want to add some Earth Balance/butter or additional milk.

Oh she glow's pictures are better, but here's a shot of my mac-n-ch-yeeze from my little iPhone 5; this photo was taken Christmas Eve, 2012.