No-Cheese Sauce

This is straight from the Forks Over Knives Cookbook (p29). I will say- this will never replace cheese, but I think if you were making a Mexican dish and wanted to add some flavor and cut the fat of cheese, you could sub this in. Or maybe cut half the cheese with this mix! I think it would be really good in chicken enchiladas. Or as a chip dip- cut with plain yogurt or sour cream.

Makes 2.5 cups
1 large yellow onion, peeled and coarsely chopped (about 2 cups)
1 large red bell pepper, seeded and coarsely chopped (about 1.5 cups)
3 tablespoons cashews, toasted, optional
1 tablespoon tahini, optional
1 cup nutritional yeast
salt to taste

Combine all ingredients in a blender in the order given and puree until smooth and creamy, adding up to 1/2 cup of water if necessary to achieve a smooth consistency.

Thoughts? I have no idea if I really understand what nutritional yeast is... but I've used it a few times in recipes from this book, and it really does make things creamier!

What I did differently? I really don't like raw onion, and the book calls a variation of roasted red pepper. So I roasted the onion and pepper myself. I also skipped the tahini as I didn't have any in the house.

Results? It tasted a little like queso. Think of this as you think about where you would use this.

Would I make it again? Yes, but as I mentioned earlier, I would make it as a dip or a filler. In this case, I put it on a plate of nachos in place of cheese, it was pretty good.