Creamy Cannellini-Basil Sauce

     This is one of my favorite non-tomato and dairy free pasta sauces. It is adapted from a recipe by Dr. Dean Ornish that was featured on the Oprah show. I made a few adjustments so it would be dairy free. Since I was omitting the cheese I chose to give it a flavor boost with the carmelized onion and fresh basil. I haven't been impressed with vegan cheese alternatives so don't use them. I also don't like the idea of altering foods for the sake of mimicking others. To me that just becomes another processed food. This sauce has lots of flavor so I don't think you will miss the cheese.

     I had a spaghetti squash to use so chose that instead of pasta. I just poked it with a pairing knife on all sides, set it inside a glass pie plate and microwaved for 20 minutes. It was pretty hot to touch so make sure to use pot holders when removing it from the microwave. Here is a nice blog that describes how to roast spaghetti squash in the oven if you don't want to microwave cook it: oven cooked spaghetti squash

     This meal took me 30 minutes to make! While the squash was in the microwave, I sautéed the kale and blended up the bean sauce. I even minimized my dish washing by first cooking the kale in the pan, transferring it to a serving dish and then using the same pan to heat up the bean sauce. By the time the squash was cooked everything was ready to serve up on a plate.

After cooking the spaghetti squash in the microwave,

I cut it in half. In the center is a little bit of string and a 

few seeds (shown in right squash half). Use a fork to 

scrap and remove the stringy center.

The squash was hot so I held it with a pot holder and

used a fork to gently scrap out the spaghetti like strands.

That is it...it is now ready to eat!

Creamy Cannellini-Basil Sauce

Serves 2-3

Makes about 2 cups
printable recipe

Ingredients:

½ cup diced onion

2-3 cloves garlic, chopped

1 T. grapeseed or olive oil

1- 15 oz. can cannellini beans, drained and rinsed

½ cup vegetable broth

½ cup fresh basil leaves (or as much as you desire)

1/2 - 1 cup plain almond milk (or other plain non-dairy milk)

¼ t. nutmeg

¼ t. black pepper

½ t. salt

Directions:

1. In a small saucepan, on medium-low heat, add 1 T. cooking oil. Sauté onion until tender and caramelized, about 5 minutes. Stir the onion occasionally as it cooks to prevent it from burning. Add the garlic and cook another minute. Turn off the heat and transfer the cooked onion and garlic to a food processor.

2. Along with the onion and garlic, add the cannellini beans, vegetable broth, and basil. Grind in the food processor until creamy. Add a little more vegetable broth if needed. Return this mixture back to the sauce pan.

3. Add half of the almond milk, nutmeg, black pepper and salt. Whisk to combine. If desired, add more milk to thin sauce. Bring to a slow simmer, cook for about 5 minutes until heated.

Serve over cooked spaghetti squash or other pasta.

Basic Sautéed Kale

serves 4

Ingredients:

1 large bunch of curly leaf kale (about 1- 1 1/2 lbs)

1 T. grapeseed or olive oil 

2 cloves garlic, thin sliced

1/2 cup vegetable broth

salt & pepper to taste

dash of balsamic vinegar (optional)

1 T. Earth Balance Butter (soy free, optional) 

Directions:

1. Use a knife and slide it at an angle along the center rib to remove the leaves. Discard the center rib.  Tear larger leaves into 2 inch pieces. Place the leaves in a strainer and rinse well under running water, drain. 

2. In a large skillet, on medium heat, add the cooking oil. Stir fry the kale for about 1 minute. Add the vegetable broth, reduce heat to medium-low, cover and cook for 10 minutes. Stir occasionally and add a little more vegetable broth if needed. Remove the lid, push the kale to the sides. In the center of the pan, add the garlic. Cook for about 1 minuted, stirring the garlic until fragrant. Season with salt and pepper. If you want, add a small splash of balsamic vinegar and the tablespoon of Earth Balance Butter. Toss to combine. Remove from the heat and transfer to a serving dish.