Creamy Cheese Sauce

Nothing to feel guilty about when eating this cheese sauce. It's cholesterol free, dairy free & low calorie. Go ahead eat the whole jar. Just as I say with all dips, dressing and sauces, they can all be added to almost any food. Pour over noodles, zoodles, veggies, use it as a pizza base or even as a veggie dip. The options are endless. 

Here is what you will need:

Ingredients:

1 small onion ( approx 1/2 cup )

1 carrot ( approx 1/2 cup )

1 sweet potato ( approx 2 cups )

1 roasted red pepper 

2 garlic cloves

1/3 cup nutritional yeast

1 tbsp fresh squeezed lemon juice

1 cup almond milk or one of your choice that's carrageenan free or better yet "homemade"

Salt & pepper to taste 

**use organic when possible**

Method:

Heat a cast iron pan or one of your choice on medium heat. 

Put a pot of water on to boil.

Slice or dice onion.

Add vegan butter to the hot pan and sauté till the onion is translucent, set aside.

Peel & cut carrot, potato & garlic and add them to the boiling water.

Once tender, drain, rince and add all ingredients to your blender.

Blend till creamy smooth.

Give it a taste test. This is the time to add more salt, pepper or other spices to the sauce if you desire, if not its ready to be served.

I do make another cheese sauce with white potato, carrot & sundried tomatoes but since I have roasted red peppers and a sweet potato that needed using up I thought it would be a great combination. I have to admit that I just love how the pepper shines in this recipe.

Hope you enjoy.

Butternut Squash & Sun Dried Tomato Sauce

  I've been eye ball'n the butternut squash for awhile now in my local grocery store and decided it was time to pick one up.  I have only cooked with it a few times and I wasn't to sure what I was going to do with it. Do you ever keep passing the same veggie by because you don't know what to do with them or how to incorporate them into a meal? I encourage you to just buy them and give them a try. You just never know, you might create your next best delicious dish yet.

  My first thought was to roast the squash but it's to hot for the oven to be on right now so boiling the squash was my other option. I came to the conclusion that butternut squash and sun dried tomatoes were the two that were going to decide the fate of this recipe which I still didn't know what it was going to be yet. This is WHY I LOVE cooking. Stuff just happens, flavours come together and a meal is made. I am so glad I wrote down the ingredients so I could make this again. ( AKA why I blog ) A simple sauce that I must say is absolutely DELICIOUS happened and my hubby ate it with some fettuccini noodles where I ate mine with some zoodles. Sadly my picky eater of 11 years old only gave it a 3 out of 10. Ha ha but us parents were a solid 10. Being she doesn't even like a plain tomato sauce, I understand. It's not the flavour of her choice but I always make her try something new because she just might like it. Kids will always say "ew" before trying something they are not sure of. I think I should start blind folding the taste testing. As for now, here is this simple recipe for this gorgeous sauce.

Ingredients:

2 cups cooked butternut squash

1/3 cup onion

1 large garlic clove

1/3 cup sun dried tomato ( in oil )

1 tsp dried mustard

1/2 tsp paprika 

1 tsp salt

1/2 pepper

1 tsp braggs liquid soy

1/3 cup lite coconut milk

**use organic when possible**

Method:

Cut the squash in 1/2 

Peel and remove the seeds 

Cut the squash into cubes 

Bake or boil till tender

Add all ingredients to a high speed blender. I used my vitamix 

Puree till smooth

Serve hot or cold

Adding some sauce to a squeeze bottle makes it easy to drizzle this sauce into a sandwich wrap, onto a pizza crust or over some nori rolls, etc. This sauce is so versatile, you could even turn it into a soup by adding some veggie stock. Ummmm, Now that's a thought for the cooler weather.

Hope you enjoy!

Marinara Sauce

Ingredients

1 796ml can of diced tomatoes

1 small carrot

1/4 cup parsley

1/4 cup cilantro 

4 garlic cloves

1/2 onion

1 tsp onion powder

1 tsp oregano 

1 tsp salt 

1 tsp pepper

1 tsp coconut palm sugar ( optional ) 

**use organic when possible 

Method

Add everything to your Vitamix or food processor and puree.

Add to a pot and simmer for approx 15-20.

( I drizzled some garlic olive oil in it when it was almost done. So tasty )

Mix in some pasta or use it as a dip. These millet & lentils patties are also on the blog under the title "Sandwich/Burger"

Enjoy! 

Lentil Balls with Tomato Gravy

Like most meals I either plan ahead for the week or I just wing it. These last few weeks were definitely winged. Last night when I was thinking about what tomorrow's dinner was going to be all I thought was to soak the rest of my white & red lentils and then I'll figure the rest out in the morning. 

After I boiled the lentils I then opened the fridge to see what other ingredients I wanted to use so I can figure out what to make. So I just started adding my ingredients and now I'm making lentil balls. What I was serving the lentils balls with, I was faced again with no idea but I knew I'd figure it out later when I got home later that day. Talk about winging it. Sometimes it's a pain to just wing it but most of the time it's part of the fun in cooking for me. It makes my mind find its creative side. A few hours before dinner I thought about making a sauce. What kind now was again yet another question. So to the pantry and fridge I went again. Voilá, tomato gravy was made. I'm calling it gravy because of the thickness and colour otherwise it's pretty much tomato sauce !! :) 

Below you will find each recipe.

Lentil Ball 

Ingredients

2 cups of pre-soaked & cooked white & red lentils

1/2 cup red onion

1 cup of packed down spinach or a huge handful

1/4 cup red pepper

2 garlic cloves

1 tsp salt & pepper

1/4 cup chick pea flour

1 tsp curry powder

Plus 1/2 cup of coconut flour or one of your choice for coating

Oil for frying

**use organic when possible**

Yields about 18-20 pieces

Method 

Rinse the lentils under cold water really well

Place in a bowl with 3 times more the water then the lentils as they will double their size

Pre-soak lentils over night by either leaving them in the fridge or on the counter. I always leave mine on the counter

In the morning or when you are ready to start cooking. Drain and rinse the lentils really well

Boil lentils for about 30 minutes or till tender then drain and rinse

Measure 2 cups and place lentils in a large mixing bowl and 1/2 mash them

Refrigerate the rest and use in another recipe 

Finely chop the onion, pepper, spinach & garlic and add them the lentils

Add salt, pepper, curry & chick pea flour and mix really well

**Give it a taste test before the flour to see if you have enough salt. At this point add more if you wish 

Compact the mix by pressing down with your spoon, cover and refrigerate for a few hours. I left mine for about 4 hours 

When you are ready to make the balls remove the bowl from the fridge

Add flour to a bowl

Roll lentil mix into balls and then the flour. Making sure to shake off the excess flour to prevent the extra from burning in the pan

Heat a pan on medium-low heat. ( adjust heat if need be ) When pan is hot add your oil of choice. Approx 1-2 tbsp. Mine was coconut oil 

Once oil is hot, ( you can test that by flicking a little water into it. If it sizzles your oil is ready )

Drop how many pieces you like into the pan depending on the size of pan you use 

Cook for about 3-4 minutes per side or until golden brown. I even rolled them on their sides for extra crispiness & colour 

Once done place on a glass plate with a paper towel or napkin to remove excess oil

Repeat till all the pieces are cooked

Eat right away or store in the fridge for later or another day. I'd say no longer than 3 days in the fridge. Any longer than that I'd freeze them

 

  These are great served on their own with a dipping sauce or added to a meal. I think if there is any leftovers I might make some lettuce wraps with them. Yum! I love lettuce wraps. But for now these are going in the recipe below.

Tomato Gravy

Ingredients

1 796 ml can of diced tomatoes

2 garlic cloves

1 inch piece of ginger

1/2 small red onion 

1 tbsp turmeric powder

1 tbsp garam masala powder

1 tbsp curry powder

1/2 tsp red pepper flakes 

2 tbsp coconut sugar

1 tsp salt

1 tsp cumin

1/2 tsp cinnamon

2 tbsp kecap manis

1 1/2 cup plain almond milk ( or one of your choice. Coconut milk would have been my first choice but I was out :)

**use organic when possible

Yields about 5 cups

Method

Add all ingredients to a high speed blender. I used my vitamix. 

Place a pan on medium-high heat with about 1-2 tbsp oil of your choice. I used coconut oil.

Add the tomato gravy mix to the pan. Bring to almost a full boil then turn the heat down to low-medium to simmer. 

Let the mixture simmer for about 30-40 minutes while stirring often. This mix will reduce and thicken.

Once the gravy reaches the thickness you like, remove it from the heat.

Serve with the above previous recipe or with another of your choice.

If not using right away then store in the refrigerator or freeze and use for a later time.

Easy, delicious and very versatile. The best is a batch of sauce goes a long way. You can incorporate it into so many meals. 

 This is what was requested to go with these two recipes. Naan bread and basmati rice. (  Definitely not the paleo or gluten free option!!! ) 

However not everyone likes all my healthy choices in this house, so I have to comprise at times. :)

Hope you enjoy and may you be Nutritionally Well.

Cream of Spinach

Cream of spinach like never before. I was craving cream of spinach and somehow artichokes came to mind. So together they came.

When you here the word cream we know it's loaded with unwanted fat, cholesterol and calories but you can certainly make a cream dish without all that. It's simple. Check out what makes this dish so creamy good.

Ingredients 

3 handfuls of spinach

2 cups loosely packed kale ( if you don't like kale or its texture just use more spinach )

1/4 cup chopped onion

6 1/4 pieces of artichoke hearts ( in oil or water, I used in oil )

3/4 cup unsweetened almond milk ( or one of your choice )

2 large cloves of garlic

1 tsp dried dill

1/2 tsp salt ( or salt to taste )

1/2 tbsp arrowroot powder ( or thickener of your choice )

*use organic when possible*

Yields approx 2 cups 

Method

Chop onion & kale

Add onion to a hot pan with a little oil and sauté till translutant, now add the kale and sauté for another few minutes till kale turns a bright green. Add approx 1-2 tbsp water and now add the spinach. Stir until spinach is wilted. 

Set aside

In a mixer ( I used my mini kitchen aide ) add artichokes, garlic, dill, milk, salt & thickener.

Blend till smooth. I ended up with a few chunks and that was fine too. 

Add the sauce mixture to the pan with spinach, kale & onion.

Mix well.

Cook over low to medium heat until it thickens. Voilá, done.

** tip-- if using the artichokes in oil, give each piece a squeeze to remove some of the oil. I love the flavour of them over the ones in water but I don't like all the extra oil.( up to you if you would Iike less or more oil ).

What I love about cooking and creating new recipes is the versatility of them. For instance I'm already thinking about if I was to take this same recipe and puréed it all after it was all done how wonderful it would be stuffed in some manicotti noodles or how about layered between some lasagna noodles. It would even stand on its own as a dip with your favourite veggies, crackers or bread. For paleo & pecatarian how about a sauce for your fish. Hmmmmm. Now I wished there were some left overs. Next time! However you serve this up, may you be Nutritionally Well.

Garlic Sauce

Ingredients

1/2 package of extra firm silken tofu

4 cloves garlic

1/4 cup chopped red onion

3 tsp nutritional yeast

2 tbsp fresh squeezed lemon juice

1/2 cup cashew milk

1/4 cup veggie stock

1 tbsp garlic plus seasoning

1 tbsp dried parsley

1 inch piece of jalapeño pepper ( optional )

Salt to taste

** use organic when possible**

Method

Purée all ingredients in a high speed blender or mixer till creamy smooth.

Serve cold or warm

Today I served it up hot with edamame noodles, spiralized zucchini ( aka--zoodles) , sautéed shitaki mushrooms & sautéed asparagus + a little chopped red onion. 

I thought about making this into a primavera or even a mushroom sauce but this is what transpired tonight. 

Not only is garlic a HUGE flavour enhancer to any dish but the health benefits of garlic are just as large. Read below to see why I use garlic even in mine & my husbands morning shakes.

Health Benefits of Garlic

1. Garlic Contains a Compound Called Allicin, Which Has Potent Medicinal Properties

2. Garlic Is Highly Nutritious, But Has Very Few Calories

3. Garlic Can Combat Sickness, Including the Common Cold

4. The Active Compounds in Garlic Can Reduce Blood Pressure

5. Garlic Improves Cholesterol Levels, Which May Lower The Risk of Heart Disease

6. Garlic Contains Antioxidants That May Help Prevent Alzheimer’s Disease and Dementia

7. Garlic May Help You Live Longer

8. Athletic Performance Can be Improved With Garlic Supplementation

9. Eating Garlic Can Help Detoxify Heavy Metals in the Body

10. Garlic May Improve Bone Health

11. Garlic Is Easy to Include In Your Diet and Tastes Absolutely Delicious

However you decide to use this sauce whether as is or as a base for another creation, may you be Nutritionally Well.

authoritynutrition.com/11-proven-health-benefits-of-garlic/

Walnut Basil & Mint Pesto

I love to recreate ol' time favourite recipes with the ingredients I have on hand.  This is a great way to explore ones creativity, palette and most of all add a new recipe to the box. Today I wanted pesto but I had no pine nuts. The replacement for them was hemp seeds & walnuts. These ended up great in the recipe plus they both added a boost of omega 3. In my kitchen window I have fresh herbs growing, as I was looking at the mint I thought yup it's going in as well. Now it's time to start putting this recipe together.

Ingredient's 

1 cup basil

1/4 cup walnuts

1 tbsp mint leaves

1/2 tbsp hemp seeds

1 garlic clove

1/2 tbsp nutritional yeast

2 tsp fresh squeezed lemon juice

1/4 tsp salt & pepper each

1/4 cup EVOO

**use organic when possible**

Yields about approx 1/3 cup

Method 

Add all ingredients to your blender/mixer with the oil being last and purée till smooth 

You will need to pause a few times to scrap down the sides of your blender to ensure the mix gets fully puréed. Give it a taste test. This is the time to add more of any ingredient if you desire to switch it up or change the consistency.

 I also love to use spinach, kale & parley and other nuts & seeds for a pesto.  So many recipes are out there to explore for this little versatile sauce. The above recipe is what I had on hand.

Also there are so many dishes pesto can be added to or used in for example, pastas, vegetables, sandwiches & pizzas. ( Just to name a few ideas )

Today I was craving zoodles. I ended up topping it with a few more hemp seeds, walnuts, chopped basil & diced red onion. Yum! I think my Sunday night pizza is calling for the pesto left overs. 

FYI :) I also have one vegetarian pesto posted on the blog plus one with recipe on Instagram for you to explore.

Being that Nutrients and the Health Benefits of all food are constantly on my mind when I cook and when I eat out, is why I like to sometimes share the benefits of some of the ingredients I use in my recipes. Below you will see I chose to share a little on basil & walnuts. 

Health Benefits of Basil:

*DNA Protection Plus Anti-Bacterial Properties

*Anti-Inflammatory Effects

*Nutrients Essential for Cardiovascular

*Anti-aging properties 

*Rich in antioxidants

Did you know? That Basil belongs to the mint family, which makes sense to pair it up with some fresh mint

Nutritional profile for basil

Basil is rich in vitamin A, vitamin K, vitamin C, magnesium, iron, potassium, and calcium.

Health Benefits of Walnuts:

• *They can reduce the risk of breast cancer. ... 
• *They're packed with omega-3 fatty acids. ... 
• *They can reduce risk of diabetes. ... 
• *They contain antioxidants that boost heart health. ... 
• *They can help you deal with stress.
• *Walnuts can help with metabolic syndrome 
• *Cardiovascular Benefits
• *Anti-Cancer Benefits

Nutritional profile of walnuts 

Walnuts are an excellent source of omega 3, rich in magnesium & copper. Walnuts also contain calcium, iron, phosphorus, potassium and zinc, vitamin E, vitamin C, vitamin A, folate and other B vitamins.

• Whether you follow this recipe or create one of your own, hope you enjoy & may you be Nutritionally Well. Thanks for stopping by my blog. 
  
  

Alfredo Sauce

A delicious easy to make guilt free alfredo sauce or even soup if you choose. It's cholesterol free, dairy free, low carb and per serving is fat free. It also contains Vit B12. A vitamin we often fall short of.

Ingredient's 

4 C cauliflower 

4 C veggie broth 

4 garlic cloves

1 small yellow onion

1 C plain cashew milk or one of your choice

1/2 Tbsp fresh squeezed lemon juice or bottled

2 Tbsp nutritional yeast

Salt & pepper to taste ( I used 2 1/2 tsp salt & 1 tsp white pepper )

**use organic when possible**

Yields approx 5 cups

**This whole entire recipe is only 500 calories!

That equals only 100 calories per each 1 cup serving. 

Method

Cut greens off of cauliflower & continue to cut cauliflower into pieces.

Slice onion & peel garlic cloves.

Add veggie stock, cauliflower, onions & whole garlic cloves to a pot. If you find you need more liquid, add more stock or water to cover.

Boil till cauliflower is tender. 

Drain over a bowl or use a slotted spoon to remove the contents & add them to your mixer. I used my Vitamix.

Now add the cashew milk plus 1 cup of the removed broth. Keep the rest of broth for soup or steaming veggies for another time :). Blend till creamy smooth.

Add lemon juice, nutritional yeast, salt & pepper and blend again for a few more seconds.

Serve it up on your favourite pasta, veggies, pizza crust or in a bowl on its own.

**tip. Add more nutritional yeast if you wish for a cheesier flavour or for those spice lovers, add some diced jalapeño peppers or chilli flakes. 

I ended up making a casserole with rice noodles. The topping was panko bread crumbs, garlic powder, salt & pepper, nutritional yeast toasted in some coconut oil with chopped kale for even more crunch. 

***NOTE the sauce is gluten free. To keep entirely gluten free use a gluten free product instead of the panko crumbs such as plain gluten free crackers. Crush them up and repeat the same as above.

Enjoy and may you be Nutritionally Well.

Mushroom & Caper Ragú

Ingredient's 

1/2 medium onion or 1 whole small

2 C cremini mushrooms

3 cloves of garlic

1 tsp salt & pepper each

1 tsp Worcestershire  sauce

1/2 Tbsp oregano

1 100ml jar of capers

1 796ml can diced tomatoes

**use organic when possible

Method

Chop the onions, mushrooms & garlic in your mixer or of course you can hand chop them if you prefer.

Add some EVOO to a hot pan and saute the onions, mushrooms & garlic for about 5 minutes.

Add salt, pepper, whorcheshire, oregano & capers including its liquid to the pan. Cook while the next step is being prepared. 

Add 1/2 the tomatoes to the mixer and purée them.

Add them and the rest of the tomatoes, turn heat to low & simmer for about 15 minutes or so giving it a stir here and there.

Serve it up with rice, pasta, other veggies or dip some bread in it.

Tonight I cooked it up with some spaghetti squash. I also made a purée out of my left over roasted curry cauliflower by placing it in the mixer then added cashew milk, garlic powder, salt and puréed it till creamy smooth. It was a great addition to the meal and a great way to use up the left overs.Yum! 

Nothing but a whole lot of veggie goodness going on here..

A nice quick simple sauce. The capers are what really make the difference in this sauce. Green olives would work just as well if you prefer them. I'm thinking this just might be going on a pizza crust next. After all on pizza anything goes :).. Hope you enjoy and may you be Nutritionally Well.