I’m on a bit of a posting binge today, likely because I’ve recently joined a new Facebook group called Vegan Cheeze (Hits and Misses) and keep coming across posts that inspire me to try new recipes. Most group members favour a cookbook called The Non-Dairy Evolution Cookbook, which I own (and have mentioned on this blog before), but I’ve tried only a few of the recipes because I find the instructions sometimes rather cumbersome.

I’ve heard enough raves about the Golden Cheddar Sauce, however, that I finally decided to try it. The problem was that I had no soymilk–the main ingredient. The other problem was that the recipe calls for 1/4 cup of oil, and I prefer not to use extracted oils.

To replace the soymilk and oil, I used a half cup of cashews and two cups of boiling water. I also subbed a teaspoon of Knorr Vegetable Broth powder for the salt and added half teaspoon of liquid smoke to give the cheese a smokey flavour.

Oh my.  The result is absolutely lick-the-spoon scrumptious.

We enjoyed it drizzled on vegan tacos for dinner this evening, and James loved it so much he ate EIGHT!

Here’s the recipe….

Smoky Vegan Cheddar Sauce

Blend in the Vitamix for two minutes:

• 1/2 cup cashews
• 2 cups boiling water
• pinch of salt

Next, add to the mixture:

• 1/4 cup nutritional yeast
• 2 TBS tapioca flour
• 1 TBS miso
• 1 TBS sambal oelek
• 1 tsp Knorr Vegetable Broth powder
• 1 tsp apple cider vinegar
• 1 tsp lemon juice
• 1/2 tsp liquid smoke
• 1/2 tsp ground mustard
• 1/2 tsp onion powder
• 1/8 tsp garlic powder

Blend on high for thirty seconds. Pour the mixture into a saucepan on medium-high heat. Bring to a boil, stirring constantly until the mixture becomes smooth and shiny. The tapioca flour will be cooked ONLY when the mixture is shiny.

The tacos were delicious! I used The Thug Kitchen Quinoa Taco Mix topped with a mixture of chopped tomatoes, avocados, onions, and romaine tossed in lime juice. I finished the tacos off with a nice dollop of the Smoky Cheddar Sauce.

Oh, and of course, a sprinkling of chopped cilantro picked fresh from the garden!