This post just didn’t want to happen. I’ve opened WordPress approximately 800 times to write it and approximately 800 times I’ve managed to do just about anything else.
I feel like the kids when I’m trying to get them to do their homework. They want to do just about anything BUT what’s in front of them.
Talk about the day: Check.
Put their head down and whine about how much they hate school: Check.
Sing Lady Gaga: Check.
Dance to Lady Gaga: Check.
Pretend the chairs are the bars from gymnastics: Check.
Fall off fake gymnastic bars because they are, in fact, chairs and have a fake melt down: Check.
Literally, anything other then doing actual work is an option. They’ll do one problem or read one sentence and they’re off doing something else and I have to refocus them. That’s exactly how I’ve felt writing this blog but no one has been around to refocus me so instead I:
Write post cards: Check.
Sing Taylor Swift: Check.
Dance to Taylor Swift: Check.
Write 2 other blog posts for later in the week: Check.
Look up xmas presents on the most obscure websites ever: Check.
Check every single on line store I have ever shopped at for an update on their products (I’m looking at you Toms and your super cute new star shoes): Check.
Work out: Actually….uh, nah! I think I’ll blog. lol!
Despite my new found A.D.D, this “cheeze” sauce was divine. I originally made it for the Halloween Quesadillas and then began putting it on pasta with kale and tomatoes for a sort of vegan, veggie loaded Mac and Cheeze. I seriously can’t get enough. Here is the recipe for the quesadilla. I will share the pasta with you next week.
Do you like my fancy bowl?
But first, let’s start with the sauce:
Vegan “Cheeze” Sauce
by Oh She Glows
Ingredients:
- 1 fresh butternut squash* (peeled and chopped) OR 1 cup canned butternut squash OR canned pumpkin (I only tried it with roasted squash, a combo of butternut and japanese, but pumpkin is next if I can find it canned!)
- Extra virgin olive oil, S & P
- 1 tbsp Earth Balance (or other non-dairy butter replacer)
- 3/4 cup unsweetened & unflavoured almond milk
- 1 tbsp arrowroot powder (or cornstarch) (arrowroot is cheaper in Australia, so I used that)
- 6 tbsp nutritional yeast, or more to taste
- 2 tsp Dijon mustard
- 1/4-3/4 tsp garlic powder
- 1/2 tsp onion powder
- 1/2-1 tbsp fresh lemon juice
- 1/2-1 tsp kosher salt (to taste) & ground black pepper, to taste
1. If you are roasting squash, preheat oven to 425F. Line a casserole dish with tin foil. Mix chopped squash with EVOO, S & P. Roast for about 40 minutes, uncovered, or until tender. Remove and set aside to cool.
2. Next, prepare the roux in a pot on the stove top. Add non-dairy butter over low-medium heat. In a bowl, whisk together milk and arrowroot powder (or cornstarch or flour) until clumps are gone. Add into pot with butter and whisk. Stir in remaining ingredients (nutritional yeast, Dijon, garlic, lemon, S & P) and whisk over low heat until thickened (about 5-7 minutes or so).
3. In a blender, blend the roux with 1 cup of roasted squash (or if using canned, simply stir 1 cup into the pot).
Voila! You have a cheeze sauce. Now, what to do with it:
Veggie Cheeze Quesadillas
makes approximately 4 quesadillas
vegan butter
1 yellow onion, thinly sliced
olive oil
1 garlic clove
1 red pepper
8 oz of mushrooms
salt and pepper
1 batch of vegan Cheeze sauce
option toppings: guacamole, salsa, vegan sour cream
In a small pan, melt a bit of vegan butter over medium low heat. Once melted, add your sliced onions and stir to coat. Let sit, stirring occasionally until caramelized. This should take 15-20 minutes.
While your onions are caramelizing, slice up your red peppers. Heat some olive oil in a different frying pan over medium heat. Add your garlic and sautee until fragrant. Add your red peppers. Stir occasionally until soft, this should take about 15 minutes. After the peppers have been cooking for about 5 minutes, throw in your mushrooms and continue cooking for the remaining 10 minutes. Season with salt and pepper to taste at the end.
Once your veggies are done, Preheat oven to 350. Lay out your tortilla shells. Cover 4 of the shells in Cheeze sauce. Top with your cooked veggies. Place the remaining shells on top. At this point, you can cover the quesadillas and place in the fridge if you are making them ahead of time. I would not recommend leaving them in the fridge for longer then 1 day. The edges tend to dry up and get stale.
Once you are ready to cook, place in the preheated over and cook for about 10 minutes until the tortilla shells have started to turn golden. Remove from the oven, slice up, add your toppings of choice and devour!
Another option would be to cut up all your veggies and cook them with a taco or fajita seasoning, either in the oven or on the stove. I really wanted caramelized onions though which is why I opted for the stove top veggies.
This recipe is customizable so go crazy with it.
Pumpkin faces totally optional, but it does make it more fun!
wickedvegan.com 