I know another recipe, but you have to understand…

I don’t cook!!!!

This is a really big deal for me.  I’ve become a cooking queen. Ok maybe not a queen but a really eager learner. I’m enjoying trying these new things being vegan.  I’m sure vegans out there have made recipes like this thousands of times. I haven’t really cooked in about 10 years. My not cooking had really nothing to do with my multiple sclerosis. Back then it wasn’t bad. My daughter was young we ate different foods, and it was just us, no one to cook for. So I didn’t cook it’s that simple. Yesterday not only did I make this mac n cheese sauce,  I even made a black cherry sauce for the remaining butternut squash. The cheese sauce recipe actually is made two ways, one is just the sauce, one is a casserole. I only included the sauce because that’s all I made but if you click the link, you’ll get the full recipe. I have to say the cheese part is complete baloney. The sauce taste nothing like cheese sauce but it is good. It’s a peanut, hummus like thing without the hummus. No chick peas. Crazy you’d NEVER know it was butternut squash. I personally loved it. Just don’t expect a cheese sauce taste, that’s not the flavor. It’s a hard flavor to describe but I can definitely say it’s a tasty.Oh and nutritional yeast, I have no idea what it really is but it’s used in a lot of vegan recipes. I think it’s the wonder food of some sort. Wow. Hopefully you like these recipes. Again all recipes for me MUST be simple. My hands, due to my multiple sclerosis, can only do so much cutting, mixing and cleaning before they fatigue . One final thing, any donations of measuring cups, spoons and spatulas are greatly accepted. The lack of cooking has also left a lack of cooking utensils.

 

Butternut Squash with Black Cherry Sauce

Ingredients:

1/2 butternut squash peeled and chopped (Mac n cheese recipe called for other 1/2 of butternut squash)

1/2 cup defrosted frozen black cherries with juice  (I used frozen cherries from Trader Joes defrosted so I had the juice)

2 tablespoon brown sugar (I use a brown sugar truvia blend)

1 teaspoon oil

salt

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350F and line a baking sheet. In a bowl, season chopped squash with some oil (~1 tsp) and kosher salt (couple pinches) and stir. Add to baking sheet and roast in oven for 30minutes

2. Add sugar to cherries and mix so sugar absorbs in juice.

3. Pour over butternut squash and mix so all pieces are covered. Bake another 10-15 minutes.

 

Butternut Squash Mac ‘n cheese sauce  http://ohsheglows.com/2011/03/10/butternut-squash-mac-n-cheeze-two-ways/ 
Butternut Squash idea from Lou. Cheese sauce adapted from my Mac ‘n Cheeze II.

Ingredients:

1/2 butternut squash, peeled and chopped (yields: 3.5 cups raw)
3/4 cup raw cashews
1 cup non-dairy milk (I used unsweetened + unflavoured soy milk), or more to thin out
3 garlic cloves
1 tbsp fresh lemon juice
2 tsp kosher salt, or to taste
6-7 tbsp Nutritional yeast (provides the cheesy consistency)
1/2 tsp dijon mustard
1/2 tsp or a bit more of dried Italian seasoning
1/4-1/2 tsp Tumeric powder, optional (gives the orangey colour)
Freshly ground black pepper, to taste
1/4-1/2 tsp Paprika + more to season
Your pasta of choice (I used ~450 grams/4.5 cups dry penne for the casserole) + mix-ins

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350F and line a baking sheet. In a bowl, season chopped squash with some oil (~1 tsp) and kosher salt (couple pinches) and stir. Add to baking sheet and roast in oven for 40 minutes, flipping once half way through baking.

2. Assemble your cheeze sauce ingredients (cashews, non-dairy milk, garlic, lemon, salt, nutritional yeast, pepper, mustard, seasonings) and add just the cashews to food processor. Process until a fine crumb forms similar to corn meal. Now add in the rest of the cheese sauce ingredients and process until smooth. Leave the sauce in the processor as you will be adding the squash.

3. Cook your pasta according to package directions. When squash is finished roasting, add it to the food processor and blend it with the cheese sauce until smooth. Adjust to taste. The sauce will thicken up with time. If at any point the sauce becomes too thick, you can add a bit of milk to thin it out.