A big part of my soul speaks through cooking.
Cooking inspires me to my core, I lose track of time and become totally enveloped in the balancing of flavors. Sweet, salty, sour, savory, creamy, spicy. These things light me up! If you know me, you know I dream of cooking you a homemade meal. Whether its a bowl of curry, veggie tacos, kale chips you’ll love or just an epic sauce full of flavor. Honestly, sauces and dressings bring me utter joy!
That being said I’d love to share one of my favorite recipes with you:
Chipotle Cashew Cheez
This sauce goes on about everything in our home. When I make it more as a thin sauce I drizzle it over roasted veggie tacos, when it’s more of a paste I use it as a pizza sauce base (and add a little extra tomato sauce). If I’m in a pinch for time I eat it on carrot/celery sticks as a snack that fills me up and gives me energy! But the sky is the limit here, and trust me, once you make it you’ll want to eat it on everything.
Cooking is about tapping into your intuition and making it taste good to YOU, sample throughout the process, and add more or less of something. This should be fun, play!
Ingredients:
about 1.5 cups of cashews soaked with hot water for at least 15-20 minutes.
a couple Tablespoons of olive oil
juice of 1/2 a lemon
dash of salt
dash of peppa
1/4 TSP to as many teaspoons of chipotle powder as you’d like (however hot you want it!)
1 teaspoon of smoked paprika
1-2 garlic cloves
2-4 tablespoons of nutritional yeast (depending on how much you love this stuff)
Directions:
Place all ingredients in a food processor and blend on high until creaminess is desired. Add more or less liquids (water, lemon juice, acv) for consistency of you dreams. Taste test, and see what it needs more of!
Store in fridge for about a week (although I don’t think it will last that long if you’re like us!)
Other ideas for additions:
dash of apple cider vinegar if you need more tang
sun dried tomatoes
tomato sauce (for pizza/pasta sauce, this makes sort of a vegan vodka sauce!)
Some of my other homemade staples in the fridge:
kimchi
salsa
nut mylk
energy balls
cilantro pesto
chimichurri
carrot/cabbage slaw