Last night was a quick meal night, so I baked potatoes, sautéed some mushrooms with garlic and a drop of red wine, steamed broccoli, heated chickpeas, and made a “cheezy” sauce. Simple and relatively fast.
The only hitch was, instead of going with one of the vegan cheeze sauces we’ve tried before, I decided to try a recipe on another blog for a fondue, figuring it could double as a cheeze sauce. Big mistake. Maybe my miso (which came from an Asian market) was stronger than the miso the recipe writer uses, but it overwhelmed the taste of the other ingredients and was too salty even without adding salt. It was the first time that I’ve made a cheese sauce that was completely inedible. I wound up throwing it out and using a packet of Chreese powder that I had in the pantry. (Though I like most vegan cheese sauces, my daughter E. has one true love, Chreese, so I buy it for her.) I really hate throwing food away, and I really wanted that recipe to be the one that lured E. away from Chreese!
Back to the potato “recipe”: I made our potato toppings and then we loaded our potatoes down and ate. Simple simple simple!
Time-saving note: I cook the potatoes in the microwave and then transfer them to a hot toaster oven for 10-15 minutes. This gives them a crispier skin and that baked taste, but saves time.
Also, three recipes for “cheese” sauce that I do recommend are the sauce from my Easy Macaroni and “Cheeze,” Nacho Cheaze, and Melty Pizza Cheese. You can find more here.
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SusanV
My update to this post is that I now use the sauce in this recipe for potatoes: https://blog.fatfreevegan.com/2007/10/easy-macaroni-and-cheeze.html I’ve even made up batches of it ahead of time that I keep in ziplock bags. When I’m running short of time, I mix one up with the liquid ingredients for a quick meal.
Judith Walters
Dear Susan,
Thanks for the yummy supper idea – wondering if you’ve checked into what microwaves do to your food? It’s nasty.
peace
namaste
Judith
SusanV
I’ve done a lot of research into microwaves and found that there’s no scientific evidence that they harm food any more than other types of cooking. Here’s a link to info compiled by Bryanna Clark Grogan about microwave ovens: https://docs.google.com/Doc?docid=0AYIHdJ5Z4ruUZHFocmdtMl8zMjJocGg4ODdnaA&hl=en
Shannon
Thanks for that link. I have heard a lot of hoopla about microwaves and I wasn’t sure what to believe. This is very helpful.
Christina
Do you still recommend the “cheese” recipes that you linked to this post at the bottom? How do they and Chreese compare to Daiya? Once I started using Daiya I have had a hard time liking anything else.
SusanV
The “cheese” that I like the best now is this one from my mac and cheese recipe: https://blog.fatfreevegan.com/2007/10/easy-macaroni-and-cheeze.html . BUT, if you’ve gotten used to Daiya, it probably won’t suit you. Daiya to me tastes more like real cheese, and all of these sauces are different–good in their own way, if you like nutritional yeast, but not really similar to Daiya.
Christina
Good to know. I never could become a nutritional yeast fan. Tried many recipes, but never got the taste for it. In small doses I am ok with it though. One recipe listed only 6 Tbsp. I’ll check it out again after your mac and cheese recipe. Thanks!
Andi Revell
Hi Susan!
My very favorite “cheese’ sauce is from Vita-Mix.
It is Not-So Cheese sauce and is so easy and delicious. Great on potatoes or veggies or over macaroni! Yum. If you don’t have it or can’t find it, I will e-mail to you!
Andi