today I'm showing you how to make the
best Nut-Free Vegan Cheese Sauce. Not
only is it vegan and not free it's also
oil-free and paleo so everybody can
enjoy it. first I'll show you how to make
the cheese sauce, and then how to use it
in three different recipes. first a
buffalo jackfruit grilled cheese,
followed by a simple creamy cheesy pasta, and finally a tempeh Tex-Mex quesadilla.
And be sure to stick around until the
end of the video because I'm sharing two
super useful cooking tips. 1 how to get
crispy, never soggy, quesadillas. And 2, the
quickest easiest way to make tempeh
not taste bitter.
This cheese sauce begins with wholesome vegetables. First, cauliflower which is going to bring some
creaminess without requiring any nuts.
and butternut squash which will yield
that beautiful golden yellow color that
we associate with cheese. you'll cut the
cauliflower into florets and use about
four heaping cups - that's the amount in
about one medium head, but if you have
leftover florets, so you can dip them in
hummus for a snack or blanch them and
freeze them for smoothies later on.
butternut squash can take some time to
peel and chop so when I'm short on time
I opt for the pre-cut squash. I'm using
my Instant Pot to steam the vegetables
for just four minutes, but you can easily
do this on the stove. I have complete
instructions for both cooking methods in
the blog post which is linked below.
While the veggies are cooking, you'll
saute some garlic. and to keep the recipe
oil-free, simply saute the garlic in
water. but be sure to use a good nonstick
pan and stir frequently to prevent the
garlic from sticking. if you don't mind
oil you can saute it in olive oil or
avocado oil.
Once the cauliflower and butternut
squash are done cooking, transfer them to
a blender along with about 1 1/2 cups of the cooking broth. and to
the blender you'll add the sauteed
garlic, a generous amount of nutritional
yeast for that cheesy flavor, a few
spices and salt, and a bit of canned
coconut milk for creaminess. blend it up
until the sauce is thick and smooth.
I am so excited to share this Buffalo
Jackfruit Grilled Cheese with you
because it is smoky and spicy and cheesy
and hearty, and in my opinion that's all
you need for an indulgent sandwich. and I
think you're gonna love it.
You're going to start with one 20 ounce can of jackfruit pieces and you'll shred it up until it
looks like shredded meat. then heat up a
skillet with just a tiny bit of oil - you
don't need much - and add the jackfruit
for a few minutes until it starts to get
brown around the edges. while the
jackfruit is cooking you'll make the
buffalo sauce by melting some vegan
butter or coconut oil in a saucepan. then
add some buffalo hot sauce, spices and
salt, and a bit of maple syrup to balance
the smoky spiciness. bring it to a simmer
and then pour the buffalo sauce over the
jackfruit. stir to combine everything and add a bit
of water to thin out the sauce. you'll
cook the jackfruit mixture for about 15
minutes or until the liquid has
evaporated.
To assemble the grilled cheese
sandwiches, you'll want to drizzle just a
tiny bit of oil on both sides of your
sliced bread. add a few spoons of the
vegan cheese sauce to the bread followed by a generous helping of the buffalo
jackfruit, a bit of blanched or sauteed
spinach. finish with a few more spoons of
cheese and cook each sandwich in a hot
skillet for about two minutes per side,
making sure to press down on both sides
with a spatula so your toasts gets nice and brown.
If you've been looking for a Nut-Free
Vegan Mac and Cheese, this is the recipe
for you. Super simple. I'm using rigatoni but of
course macaroni shells or any kind of
pasta will work.
For this cheesy pasta all you really
need to do is to bring a large pot of
salted water to boil and cook the pasta
of your choice until al dente. Then
either drain the cooking water and add
the sauce or use a slotted spoon to
transfer the pasta to a pan and add the
vegan cheese sauce on top, tossing to
coat and warming everything through.
Unlike your standard cheese quesadilla, 
these Tex-Mex Tempeh Quesadillas are a
full balanced meal. You've got the protein rich tempeh, a veggie packed cheese sauce, some
antioxidant-rich mushrooms. Of course you can throw some greens in there if you
like and as always you can use a whole
grain tortilla a grain free tortilla,
whatever you fancy.
To start on these quesadillas, I'm dicing
up a jalapeno pepper along with garlic
and sliced onions and mushrooms. normally, I recommend steaming tempeh before
further cooking it to remove the
characteristic bitterness in tempeh, but
I find that finally grating tempeh
actually breaks down the protein and
integrates the tempeh into the other
flavors you don't actually need to steam it.
Next you'll heat up a large deep
skillet and saute some sliced onions.
once they start to soften you'll add the
garlic and jalapeno followed by the
mushrooms, tempeh and the Tex-Mex
seasoning. cook until the mushrooms are
beginning to brown but wait until the
last minute of cooking to add the salt
to ensure the mushrooms do not release
too much moisture. then you'll add in
some tomato paste for a concentrated
tomato-y umami flavor and lime juice
for a pop of freshness and acidity.
To assemble the quesadillas spread out
some of the vegan cheese on a large
tortilla followed by the Tex-Mex
mushroom tempeh feeling and a bit more
of the cheese sauce, followed by another
tortilla. and here's the key part - when
you add the quesadilla to your skillet, 
add a smaller skillet on top of the
quesadilla.  this helps continuously press down on
the quesadillas so you get a crispy
brown exterior instead of a soggy wilted quesadilla.
If you're a fan of quesadillas you're
going to love my simple five-ingredient
Chickpea Sweet Potato Quesadillas, which are coming up right after this
