The best thing about this cheese sauce is that it is made out of mainly potatoes and carrots. It gets its fat content from walnuts, which are super good for ya. I really like having it with rice and steamed kale, but you can serve it with whatever you prefer: any other whole grain, rice noodles, wheat noodles, buckwheat noodles, on veggies, on nachos … the list goes on. Get creative or don’t. But in any case, try it out. —EvE
SERVES 2 TO 4
CHEESE SAUCE
2 yellow potatoes, peeled and chopped
1 carrot, peeled and chopped
½ onion, chopped
1 tbsp (15 g) sauerkraut
2 tbsp (30 g) miso paste
2 cloves garlic
½ tsp ground turmeric
½ tsp black pepper
½ tsp sea salt
½ cup (58 g) walnuts, ideally soaked in water for 5 hours, then rinsed
¾ tsp chipotle powder
TAHINI SAUCE
1 heaping tbsp (15 g) tahini
1 clove garlic
2–3 tbsp (30–45 ml) fresh lemon juice
1 tbsp (15 g) miso paste
¼ tsp black pepper
3–4 tbsp (45–60 ml) water, as needed
1 big bunch kale
Your fave pasta, rice, whatever (I used whole-grain kamut pasta)
1 cup (160 g) chopped tomatoes
1 tbsp (10 g) sunflower seeds, for garnish
FOR THE CHEESE SAUCE
Boil the potatoes for 3 minutes, and then add the carrots and boil for another 3 minutes. Add the onion, and keep boiling until the potatoes are tender (it’ll probably take another few minutes). Then scoop out the boiled veggies—but keep the water!—and add to a blender. Add the rest of the sauce ingredients to the blender, as well as most of the water you used for boiling (maybe 1½ cups [355 ml] or so, adding as needed). Blend it all until you get a creamy cheese sauce type thing. Adjust it according to taste, adding more salt or whatever. You want it to taste very flavorful at this point and almost a little more salty than you’d normally like, because this is going to spread out on noodles/rice, so the flavor will be less strong.
FOR THE TAHINI SAUCE
Blend everything until smooth, adding more water if needed to get a creamy dressing consistency.
Rip the leaves off the kale and steam them for 5 minutes, or until vibrantly colored.
Cook your pasta, rice or whatever you’re using according to directions on the package, and drain it but don’t rinse. Add the cheese sauce to your pasta, rice or whatever, and mix in well. Add the kale, tahini sauce and tomatoes, along with a sprinkling of sunflower seeds. Enjoy!