Today's comfort yumminess began with a little dabbling with cashew-butter based sauces. For New Year's brunch, it was a Hollandaise for a Crabcake Benedict, which was great and I immediately started thinking about how to tweak it for a cheesy sauce for a day just like today:
Cashew Cheese & Mac
2 cups raw cashews
2 Tablespoons fresh squeezed lemon juice
1 cup water
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup nutritional yeast
1 teaspoon roasted garlic (*could use 1/4 tsp. garlic powder)
1/4 teaspoon turmeric
2 good dashes cayenne pepper
1/4 teaspoon dry mustard (*could use wet dijon mustard)
1/4 teaspoon smoked paprika
1 1/2 cups elbow noodles (regular, wheat, gluten free - your choice)
two handfuls chopped kale
1 cup frozen sweet peas
1 large stem broccoli, cut into small pieces
Put a large pot of salted water to boil - it will hold the noodles and all the veg, so bigger than you might normally use. When it boils, add the broccoli stems, kale and frozen peas, and let it come back to a boil. When it boils again, add the noodles and cook to package directions, adding the broccoli crowns in the last minute or two.
When the noodles have reached that perfect 'al dente', drain into a colander, retaining just a bit of the water in the bottom. Return the noodles and veg to the pan, and pour over as much of the cashew sauce as you like in your noodles (you should have some left over, but hey, who am I to judge if you decide it all needs to go in! Mix it up well, fill up a bowl and return to your position under a blanket on the couch and continue to watch the snow fall.