All summer I’ve been making meals with lots of components, but don’t require much effort because nature is speaking for itself. I’ll serve tomatoes with a drizzle of balsamic vinegar, salad with a simple vinaigrette, smoothies with creative toppings. The key to elevating these jewels of summer to a regal estate is in the sauces and combinations. And this non-cheese cheese sauce is superlative. I’ve been experimenting with dairy free cheeses and the results are incredible. Usually they involve a cashew or almond base or some sweet potatoes for heft, but one night I hadn’t soaked any nuts overnight and didn’t have any sweet potatoes on hand and thought, what if I narrowed it down to the basics and reduced? After a little research I saw that this could work. The result is an incredibly cheesy weeknight go-to that I’ve made repeatedly.
I wish nutritional yeast had a sexier name. It is part of what kept me away for a while. It’s the base of this sauce and I’m digging its versatility so much I think I may have convinced my mom to use it in her summer squash lasagna (recipe to come). Nutritional yeast is made from a single-celled organism, Saccharomyces Cerevisiae, which is grown on molasses and then harvested, washed, and dried with heat to kill or “deactivate” it. Because it’s inactive, it doesn’t froth or grow like baking yeast does so it has no leavening ability. It’s a good source of vitamin B12, folic acid, selenium, zinc, and protein. It’s low in fat, gluten-free (check specific brands for certification), and contains no added sugars or preservatives. The savory, umami taste of nutritional yeast comes from glutamaic acid, an amino acid that is formed during the drying process. It serves as the base for this along with almond milk and a touch of garlic and onion powders. Mix it all together in a pan and reduce over medium heat and you’ve got yourself a dairy free mac and cheese elevated by arugula, pea sprouts, olives and heirloom tomatoes. You can add what you wish to this or serve it as plain old comforting mac & cheese.
Have you all been watching the Olympics? It’s inspiring me to work harder and push my own boundaries. I told my brother I’d run a 10k with him this weekend until I do a little training for further distances. Now I just have to find the time to add some training to the schedule. Sleep is paramount. So is food and wine. Something’s gotta give. And so it all comes down to balance. Sometimes you have to throw your cards in the air and see where they fall and the ones you choose to pick up are probably where your biggest interests lie in the moment. Let’s see if I pick up the long distance running card. This is where quick meals like this come in. They free up some time and allow you to take note of the preciousness of summer while nourishing you for the next thing.
LENTIL PASTA MAC & CHEESE W/ OLIVES, SPROUTS AND HEIRLOOM TOMATOES (V+GF)
Sauce adapted from Oh She Glows
INGREDIENTS:
For the Cheese Sauce:
- 3/4 cup unsweetened, unflavored almond milk (or more as needed to thin out)
- 6 tbsp nutritional yeast (found in natural food section of most grocery stores or bulk food stores)
- 1 tbsp all purpose flour (or other flour or cornstarch)
- 2 tsp Dijon mustard
- 1/4 tsp garlic powder
- 1/4 tsp onion powder
- 1/2 tsp kosher salt & freshly ground black pepper, to taste
For the Pasta:
- 2 cups lentil pasta (or pasta of your choice)
- 4 cups water
Toppings:
- Handful of olives
- Handful of pea sprouts chopped
- Handful of heirloom tomatoes, chopped
- Handful of cilantro
- Handful of arugula
DIRECTIONS:
For the Cheese Sauce:
In a medium sized bowl, whisk together the flour and milk until all clumps are gone.
Add milk & flour mixture and nutritional yeast to a pot over low to medium heat.
Add Dijon, garlic powder, onion powder, salt and pepper to taste and whisk frequently until the sauce thickens up, for about 5 minutes. If it’s still too thin you can add more flour to achieve the thickness you desire. To reheat: reheat in the microwave or on the stove-top (add a splash of milk if it’s too thick) and whisk well. Store in an air-tight container for up to 5-7 days.
For the Pasta:
Cook according to instructions on box (about 15 minutes in boiling water) or if using fresh, cook for 5-7 minutes after water is boiling.
Assemble:
Mix all the ingredients together and serve warm. Enjoy!
That’s brewer’s yeast, for making beer. I was reading your post and thought it sounded familiar, so i checked. I discovered a long time ago that brewer’s yeast sprinkled onto unsweetened popcorn makes it taste cheesy and it’s very good for you. I can imagine, therefore, that your cheese sauce gets an almost real cheese flavour – great idea! I heard something a couple of years ago (probably the Food Programme) about a food researcher trying to find out how the poor (centuries ago) managed to live on bread alone. He discovered that bakers often used the liquid leftovers from brewing to make their bread, which meant it contained B12, folic acid, selenium, zinc, and protein, which was just about enough to sustain human life.
You’ll have to write a book of these recipes at some point in the future – I’m sure your experimentation and falvour combinations will have great appeal 🙂
Nutritional yeast and brewers yeast are very similar, but I think they’re slightly different. My brother brews his own beer so I noticed a difference. Brewer’s yeast has a bitter taste which reveals its origins, as a by product of beer making. Nutritional yeast, however, is cheesy and nutty without the bitterness of brewer’s yeast and it’s grown artificially. They’re very similar though. Very interesting about the bread growers. That’s brilliant. I’d love to write a book one day, but I’m still in the process of figuring it all out. There are some amazing books out there already so I’d have to bring my personal spin. You’re such a food scientist, MD. Thanks for the encouragement.
Saccharomyces Cerevisiae is brewers yeast too:
http://www.healthline.com/health/brewers-yeast
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saccharomyces_cerevisiae
There may be different strains of it I suppose. I bought brewers yeast flakes (large tubs) in Atalanta quite a few times (from a health food store) and it was quite cheesy, not bitter. Great on popcorn.
Now I want to go to a whole food store and try the two differently labeled products side by side. I could be turning into Jeffrey Steingarten or Harold McGee 😉
Wow. I love that you actually bought brewers yeast to eat. I want to try the different strains too! Very cool, MD.
I do like brewing, though it was my girlfriend at the time who insisted I try it on popcorn. She was very foodie in a complimentary way – we did a lot of cooking together.
I did find another web page which suggests that they are all brewer’s yeast, but nutritional yeast is a deactivated version, whereas the type used for brewing is live. But regardless, I love the way your sauce even looked like cheese!
So cool. Thanks, MD.
Yummy! That is a ton of nutritional yeast you’re using. So daring!!! I love how un-mac’n’chees-y your dish looks with all those fresh veggies and greens. It looks beautiful, and I bet it tastes fantastic too. Try adding a little miso for enhanced cheesiness some day, it works well with nutritional yeast and garlic powder! This is lovely summer comfort food, Amanda, I’m so happy you’re enjoying this new food adventure. Hope all is well at home. Our garden is FULL of snap peas, and I’m making chive and sesame pancakes for our kimchi appetizer. So much work today…
It is a lot of yeast. And to think before you got here I was afraid of it. I almost returned the bottle we bought. If you don’t have cashews you need to make it up somehow. It really is a great sauce. I LOVE the idea of miso. I’m going to try making an actual cheese with that combination. Thanks for the compliments on this summery dish. Can you believe I actually made it, shot it, edited it and wrote it last night? Kind of cray. I really am enjoying this adventure and cant wait to start sprouting too. Thanks for your well-wishes. A is feeling a little better today. I made him a “summer cold” smoothie where I just threw in the kitchen sink of ingredients. Oh how beautiful to have a garden full of snap peas! Those pancakes sound so so good. I want to come back! I hope you had a good bus ride and a great read! Have a good cooking weekend!
You made all this after our Wednesday lunch? Wow, so impressed! You are so full of energy. Oh and I am glad A is feeling better. I like to use lots of fresh ginger and/or turmeric in my smoothies, especially during winter, to avoid colds.
My book is SCARY. You really should read it. I am obsessed. I want to quit working until I have finished reading it!!! See you soon.
Yes, after I got home from work. I know it’s crazy. But we had to eat and I thought I’d play with my new camera a bit. So I can attest that this is a perfect quick, week night meal. The ginger is always a great addition. I read somewhere that for turmeric to be absorbed it needs to be coupled with pepper. I’m not sure though. I’m going to have to take your book out of the library. I like a good mystery thriller. Enjoy your busy restaurant day!
Black pepper enhances the properties of turmeric but it doesn’t *have* to be coupled with it all the time. Turmeric is wonderful on its own, I love the fresh root in citrusey smoothies during winter. It has wonderful properties even without the pepper. My yoga teacher purees it into a condiment without pepper, and uses it with everything, rice, curries, on the side, on bread, even in pasta.
Maybe I’ll do the same!
Amanda, this sounds so good! What a great twist on a comfort food. I have made cauliflower mac and cheese, but never tried it with nutritional yeast, though I have some in my pantry! I am unsure how to use it, so this recipe gives me hope that it really is useful and tasty!! (and full of health benefits.) I have been watching some of the Olympics here, and I agree that it is inspirational! Good luck with the running! My daughter is training for cross country and loving it! I also started running a little bit again, though I need to vary running with biking and walking. I still want to communicate with you sometime about the Thrive book–we have been in and out of town lately so my diet/cooking/blogging has gone to survival mode, but soon I will be back at trying new recipes!
Oh you have it in your pantry! Jenny, this is going to be good!! Try this sauce and put it on anything and you won’t even know the difference. Now I have to make the lasagna for you because I think you and your husband will love the plant based version of it. I’m with you about varying the workout. My weekly routine is mostly cross training at the gym. I only run when I can’t get to a class or I haven’t had time to get out on my bike. Biking is one of my favorite things to do these days. I hate running, but I think it’s a cool thing to do with my brother and a cool thing to train for. Good for your daughter! I’m glad you’re out enjoying the summer. I saw Thrive magazine in Whole Foods the other day and i’m so glad Brandon Brazier is having so much success. I’m still figuring out where I’ll fall on the plant based spectrum, but knowledge is power and motivation. Enjoy!! xo
i’ve been spending my summer throwing vegs in a bowl, dousing with olive oil and balsamic vinegar and topping it on toast. that’s pretty much the extent of my kitchen adventures after work and you say it right: freeing up time to enjoy the preciousness of time. and the only thing i’m willing to give up is time in the kitchen.
we did sign up for a race this fall, and we’re once again trying to allocate time for training and nourishing our body. here’s to balance!
PS. i made a simple pasta + lentil dish in the spring, which was i thought was a weird combo but turned out great… now i have to find actual lentil pasta….
Wow! We’re on the same wavelength re vegetables, time and working out. My brother and I finally settled on a relay upstate. Very excited about this. I think pasta and lentils together could definitely work. I bought the lentil pasta online and I”m telling you I would not know it wasn’t regular pasta. The red lentil is indistinguishable. I highly recommend this https://www.amazon.com/Organic-Red-Lentil-Penne-grams/dp/B00HUJJOQU I just ordered 5 boxes and had them sent to my work. So along with binders and legal briefs the mail guy brought me pasta. He thinks I”m hilarious. I don’t have a doorman so I have to ship everything to work. Enjoy and enjoy!
These are the types of salads I like making now for summer. I’m envious that you’re in the “good” time zone to watch the Olympics, as I am not 🙁 Yay for your training! I’m still building up for my being able to run 10k , for now I can do about 7, though right now I’m at my parents in Andalucia and it’s way too hot to run and I havent done anything. Ok, I’ve been swimming at the beach but thats not running.
Oh but I’m jealous of you being in Andalucia, my favorite place to be, except that I can only imagine how hot it is. That’s a shame that you’re in the “wrong” time zone. I know the feeling because of Wimbledon and the Australian open. Everyone at work knows I’m going to be “jet lagged” in January during the US Open in Australia in January. It’s so funny. I have to ignore the news and just get right to watching videos. Impressive getting to 7. I haven’t tried beyond 5 miles yet, but this morning I was watching the Olympics women 10k and it was amazing/daunting. Which is where these types of bowls come in. Power! Keep up the good work and enjoy the swimming. There’s something to be said for just drinking lemonade in the hot sun too…or horchata!
What a creative take on mac & cheese, Amanda! Love that exiting mix of flavors and your experimenting for the “cheese” sauce. We´re having many pasta bakes , too, here, these days, though more on the conventional side of summer ingredients compares to this!
Thanks Sabine! I’m enjoying the adventure into new foods. I’m also loving reading your French adventures both fun and frustrating!
I can learn a lot from you, Amanda, and MD’s suggestion that you write a book is a good one. Dairy free components aside, you’ve created quite a delicious mac & cheese, the toppings set it far apart from any I’ve tried. I’m passing this along to my DF friends, I’m sure they’re going to love it. Thanks!