MAC AND PEAS

This recipe includes one of my favorite vegan cheese sauces, made with butternut squash! It is adapted from this recipe https://www.veggieinspired.com/butternut-mac/ and I like it more than the cheese sauces made with potatoes and carrots. I make a large batch and use it throughout the week. Super easy and super delicious, this is one of my go to lazy meals. Sometimes I will do broccoli instead of peas, depending on what I have. Both are super delicious.

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Ingredients:

Cheese Sauce (makes lots extra)

• 3 generous cups of butternut squash, cubed

• 1 white or yellow onion, roughly chopped

• 1/2 cup cooking liquid from squash and onions

• 1/2 cup raw cashews

• 1/2 cup unsweetened nondairy milk

• 4 tablespoons nutritional yeast

• 2 tablespoons lemon juice

• 1 tablespoon of salt

• 1 teaspoon dijon mustard

• 3/4 teaspoon garlic powder

• 1/2 teaspoon smoked paprika

• 1/4 teaspoon cracked black pepper

• 1/4 teaspoon turmeric

• 1/4 teaspoon nutmeg

Mac and Peas (adjust amounts depending on how many people you're feeding, if you want left overs, desired pea density, etc.)

• Macaroni noodles

• Frozen peas

Instructions

1. Fill a pot with water and bring it to a boil.

2. Chop up your onion and squash and add it to the boiling water. Cook until the squash is fork tender, about 8-10 minutes.

3. In the meantime, add the rest of your cheese sauce ingredients to a high speed blender.

4. Once they are soft, drain the butternut squash and onion, saving the 1/2 cup to add to the sauce, and add them to the blender with the cooking liquid. Blend until very smooth. You might need to stop and wiggle things around a little bit until it starts to blend smoothly, or you can use the baton.

5. Boil your noodles according to package instructions, throwing the frozen peas in for the last minute to 90 seconds, just until they are hot but not mushy.

6. Drain macaroni and peas, and combine with some of the cheese sauce (get that ratio how you like it). If you are me add hot sauce and enjoy!