I visited a dear friend in Minnesota over the weekend. One evening we threw together a meal on the fancy nachos/tacos theme. For mine I used refried and cooked whole beans for the filling, an avocado and some salsa. However, I wanted that "cheese" component that is so traditional to taco-making! Long story short, we didn't go to Whole Foods so I didn't have access to nutritional yeast, Daiya, or any other form of acceptable (palatable) cheese-substitutes. Experimentation resulted and luckily it was successful. Here's the recipe:
No Nutritional Yeast Cheesy Sauce:
Cashews
Water
White Balsamic Vinegar (or another vinegar of your choosing--this, however, is a key component)
Garlic powder
Paprika
Fancy salt
Lemon (optional)
Take a rough handful of cashews and put in blender. Add water to about the same level as the cashews. Keep extra cashews and water on hand to adjust the consistency as needed. Add a solid pour of vinegar to the blender. A splash of lemon juice would have been nice, had I had it. Add a generous amount of salt (high quality real/kosher salt or, preferably, Himalayan pink salt). Add at few good shakes of garlic powder. Finally, add about 1 tablespoon of paprika. This was a happy accident in my case, but it worked out well and I believe it is the key (along with the vinegar) to the good flavor of the cashew sauce.
Blend together until a uniform consistency is achieved. Taste test and adjust ingredients as you wish. Use as a dip and/or a sauce!
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