Monday, July 4, 2011

Raw Vegan Alfredo Sauce

 Raw Vegan Zucchini Pasta and Alfredo Sauce

Alfredo Sauce Ingredients
  • ½ cup Raw Cashews
  • 2 tbs cup Nutritional Yeast (I used Brewer’s Yeast from Lewis Labs)
  • ⅛ teaspoon Black Pepper
  • ⅛ teaspoon Garlic Powder
  • ½ teaspoon Himalayan crystal Salt
  • a few leaves of Fresh Basil
  • a couple leaves of Fresh Oregano
  • ¼ red onions
  • ½ cup Raw Almond Milk (view this blog to see how I made it)
  • about 2 table spoons of Raw pecans
  • 1 Zucchinis (for the noodles)
  • Tomato slices (for the garnish)

Raw Vegan Alfredo Sauce Recipe
  • To make the alfredo sauce, toss the raw cashews, raw pecans, nutritional yeast, black pepper, garlic powder, Himalayan salt, fresh basil, fresh oregano, and red onions into your blender and blend. 
  • Add just enough raw almond milk to make a creamy sauce, but not so much as to make it too thin, and blend until that creamy sauce consistency is reached. I should have added half the amount of liquid that I did (but it was still really good!)
  • To make the pasta noodles out of the zucchinis use either a vegetable peeler or a Spiral Vegetable Slicer (you can find one for under $20) I personally used a $4 julienne vegetable peeler.
  • Arrange your "pasta noodles" in serving bowls and pour the alfredo sauce over the noodles. For the garnish, toss some chopped tomatoes and fresh basil over the top if you choose. I just added 3 slices of tomato...then I loved the tomato in it so much that I added a few more slices.

Note: The recipe calls for Nutritional Yeast, which is different from Brewer's Yeast, however that was all they had at my health store so I went for it.  Nutritional Yeast has a more nuttier cheesy flavor and more yummy from what I have read…but since my health food store only carried this yeast I bought it anyways because it’s jam packed with nutrients (more than nutritional yeast…that doesn’t have Chromium).  I was a little scared about how it would taste after reading reviews, however it states on it that it's the best tasting Brewer's Yeast, and I believe it coz i actually liked it! Others describe Brewer's Yeast as bitter, but this brand didn't taste bitter at all to me. I mixed in a tiny bit with a teaspoon of sauce just to make sure before adding 2 sable spoons in the mix. If anything it enhanced the flavor.
Also be sure to soak the cashews if they're truly raw. I soaked mine for about 9hrs.

 Ingredients
 making my noodles with my julienne vegetable peeler
 Chopped up all ingredients
 Pour the sauce over the zucchini noodles and garnish with tomato and your dish is ready to eat:)  It was super delicious!  So far I love all the raw vegan pasta dishes I have tried.



Health benefits:

Brewer's yeast- is often used as a source of B-complex vitamins, chromium, and selenium. The B-complex vitamins in brewer's yeast include B1 (thiamine), B2 (riboflavin), B3 (niacin), B5 (pantothenic acid), B6 (pyridoxine), B9 (folic acid), and H or B7 (biotin). These vitamins help break down carbohydrates, fats, and proteins, which provide the body with energy. They also support the nervous system, help maintain the muscles used for digestion, and keep skin, hair, eyes, mouth, and liver healthy.  The Brewer’s Yeaste (Nutritional Yeast) I purchased from my co-op, is Kosher, non-gmo and glutin free.  In a 2 tbs serving it has 600mg of Potassium, 6 g of fiber, and 16g of protein! That’s 24% of my daily fiber and 32% of my daily protein. This is based on a 2,000 cal diet, while my cal intake is less than that.  It also has 30% of iron, 2% calcium, 80% Thiamin, 70% Roboflavin, 50% Niacin, 60% vitamin B6, 50% Folic Acid, 5% Vitamin B12, 5% Biotin, 8% Pantothenic Acid, 80% Phosphorus, 8% Magnesium, 20% Zinc, 85% Selenium, 10% Copper, 1% Manganese and 140% Chromium!  It also contains 18 amino acids.