We Can't Say It's Cheese...Helper

We Can't Say It's Cheese... Helper

• 1 yellow onion, diced
• 1 to 4 garlic bulbs (to taste), diced
• 1 tsp thyme
• 1 tsp oregano
• 1 tsp (or more, to taste) chili powder
• 1 tsp garlic powder
• 1 tsp onion powder
• Salt to taste
• 1 package Boca brand, or other, vegan soy crumbles thawed if frozen 
• 1 to 2 cups fresh or frozen peas (optional)
• 1 cup vegetable stock
• 1 container of Wayfare "We Can't Say It's Cheese" Cheddar Spread
• 1 box of pasta, (elbow or bowtie work well as gooey cheese receptacles)

Put pasta pot full of water on to boil. Cook pasta per instructions on packaging. Drain and add to large serving bowl.

Dice onion and desired amount of garlic bulbs. Heat frying pan on medium high and add a small amount of oil or vegetable stock. When pan is hot, add onions and garlic and saute until onions are browned. Add spices and stir until fragrant (about 2 minutes). Reduce heat, add soy crumbles, vegetable stock, and peas (if frozen, microwave peas until tender, then add to mixture) stirring occasionally until warmed through.

Microwave "cheese" spread, stirring, until nice and goey.

Combine ALL ingredients in large serving bowl and mix well until incorporated. Serve immediately while hot!

NOTES: 
If at any time you need more liquid  to get that ooey-gooey cheesey sauce, add vegetable stock, plain soy milk or pasta cooking water. I added approx 1 cup of hot pasta water to cut the thickness of the cheese (HA!). Add in small amount so you don't end up with a running mess! 


If you don't have all of the spices, just wing it with what you have. There's already a lot of flavor from the cheese so you can get away with less or none. You can also add more to taste - I always add more garlic to every recipe per my fear of vampires.

I microwaved the mock cheese twice at 30 seconds each, stirring between heating times.

Try adding a small amount of each group - pasta, crumbles and cheese; combining fully and then adding more. I mixed my batch in thirds for complete cheesy goo coating. 


SJM and I were both big fans of the Wayfare Cheddar Spread used in this recipe. It was good, olde tyme comfort food. While not particularly healthy - it is a good "sometimes treat" which I plan to make this Fall and Winter.

Product Review #1: Bac'Un Bits, Parmela Cheese Sub, Kool Ranch Kale Chips

Frontier Natural Products Co-op Bac'Uns Vegetarian Bits (Vegan, Kosher)

As my friend Alison and I would say in delight: "Peegs in sheet! Peegs in sheet!"(Apparently 99% of all New Yorkers think everyone who grew up in Iowa had a pig as a pet. But I digress...)These little crunchy crumblers are delicious - SJM and I have been mad pouring them on our "too hot to cook" salads like pork starved olde tyme miner 49-ers. The great thing about these pork-less bacons is you don't have to worry you are eating human flesh by proxy (Yes, I take "Deadwood VERY seriously), or eating some poor, little Iowa farm girl's one and only piggie friend. I will be keeping my fridge stocked with these babies!

http://www.frontiercoop.com/

Parmela - Grated Parmesan Cheese Replacer


If it smells like Parmesan, and it tastes like Parmesan - it must be...raw nuts, fermented soybeans, nutritional yeast, soy sauce and lactic acid! Okay, it doesn't look like dairy Parmesan - however, it is by far the best cheese replacer I have ever tried. Excellent in pesto or atop pasta - especially good to serve omnis who are terrified of "fake" cheese.

http://parmelafoods.com/Home.html

Rhythm SuperFoods - Kale Chips - Kool Ranch

My journalistic integrity (I don't have any) may have been compromised with this product. I sort of turn into a twine-ball- making-Depression-era grandma in regards to Kale chips. "Why would you buy them when you can make them fresh yourself?"  However, since they were on sale I bought a bag to try. I hated them and may have likened them to looking and tasting like ear wax. To be fair, I called in SJM for a second opinion. He thought they were "okay". He then looked at the package and said: "You don't like ranch.". Oh, yeah. I hate ranch flavor, although I do not think these tasted particularly like ranch flavor. SJM and I both agreed that these chips leave a slightly unpleasant coating in your mouth best described by SJM as: "How your mouth feels after eating French's onion pieces". I described it as "a lardy after-taste". SJM also said he wished they weren't such teeny-tiny crumbs. (The package may have gotten smashed in my bag.)  Like your granny, I still think my homemade are better (SJM agrees).

http://rhythmsuperfoods.elsstore.com/