Ideal for EatingEating ethically while eating great!

My daughters just got back home from a ski trip with their dad. I was experimenting tonight with walnut cream in corn chowder—it worked, but not nearly as well as cashew cream—and thought they'd appreciate something a bit more . . . standard. Plus, my husband also just got back into town, and he doesn't think that soup is a meal. (Personally, as you all know, I could have soup for any meal any time. I even eat leftover soup for breakfast sometimes.) 

So, to make everyone happy, I made a pasta alfredo with broccoli. I used my favorite cashew cheese sauce and just threw it onto a pound of cooked shells along with two bunches of broccoli. It was easy and delicious—and did, indeed, make everyone happy, even me!

Vegan Pasta Alfredo with Broccoli—prep time: 20 minutes; serves 6-8

Ingredients

1 pound of pasta (any type you like)

2 bunches of broccoli, cut into large bite-size pieces

1 1/2 cups non-dairy milk of your choice 

1 1/2 tablespoons cornstarch 

1/4 cup melted coconut oil

1 cup thick cashew cream

1/4 cup nutritional yeast

1/2 - 1 teaspoon salt

1/2 teaspoon garlic powder

white pepper to taste

juice from 1/2 lemon (or 1/2 lime, if you're out of lemons, as I often am)

2 tablespoons miso paste 

Directions

Boil water for pasta. Cook pasta only to al dente. Rinse and set aside.

Steam broccoli until tender but still crisp. Set aside.

In a small saucepan, combine non-dairy milk, cornstarch and oil. Bring to a simmer over high heat. Lower heat, cover and simmer for 10 minutes, until cornstarch is dissolved.

Put 1 cup of thick cashew cream in a food processor. Add 1/4 cup nutritional yeast, 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder, salt and white pepper to food processor. Pulse a few times to blend well. With processor running, slowly add milk/cornstarch mixture. Blend a minute or two, until creamy. Add lemon juice and miso paste and blend again.

Combine pasta, broccoli and cheese sauce. Serve warm.

Enjoy!