I’ve been in the mood for mexican food recently. It must be because I’m in Texas.
And what is Mexican food without cheese sauce? Of course cheese sauce isn’t vegan (and may not be vegetarian depending on how the cheese is made)
There are many different cheese sauce recipes on the internet, some with potatos and carrots, some with cashews, some with both. Some made with just a roux.
This one is a little bit of the same, and a little bit different.
The sweet potato gives a very smooth feel, while keeping the body of regular potatoes. Cashews create that silky texture you’re looking for. And of course the nutritional yeast adds that cheesey flavor.
The tomatoes are optional, but highly recomended (especially if you’re going with a mexican sauce, if you want something for mac and cheese, omit the tomato (and cumin, chili powder, and paprika, naturally)
Cheese Sauce
1 large shallot, diced
1-2 t oil
1 medium sweet potato, peeled and cut into large pieces
2 cups water
3 sun dried tomatoes
1 c cashews, raw
1 t salt
1/4 c nutritional yeast
1/2 t minced garlic, dried
1/2 t cumin
1/2 t chili powder
1/4 t paprika
- Sautee the shallot in oil over medium high heat for 1 minutes
- Add the sweet potato and water, bring to a boil.
- Add the tomatoes, cashews, garlic, and salt. Cook for 10 minutes or until the sweet potato is tender.
- Add the nurtitional yeast to a blender. Add everything from the pot. Blend everything until smooth (with a high speed blender this took about 3-5 minutes)
- Add the cumin, chili powder, and paprika to taste.
Serve on top of tamales, as a nacho dip, or mix into rice for cheezy rice caserole.
This mixes with refried beans very well, a quick and easy recipe:
Refried Beans
1 part pinto beans
3-4 parts water
Cumin
Minced garlic
Minced onion
Salt
- Wash your beans and place in an instant pot with the water. I used 1 cup beans to 4 cups water. Bring to a boil
- Add the seasonings, about 1 t each. Place on the lid, and pressure cook for 35 minutes. Let the pressure release however you like (I used a quick release as I’m very impatient)
- If there is quite a bit of liquid over the beans, remove with a ladel into a bowl (you may need it later) Mash or blend with an imersion blender to the desired consistancy.
- If the beans are too soupy, cook until enough water has been evaporated. If they’re too dry, add some liquid.
Beans and cheeze sauce go together very nicely. Either as a dip for chips, or layered with salsa and guac for nacho night.
