I’m not someone that necessarily craves creamy sauces (I’m more of a spicy kinda gal).
But, I needed to prepare something for some friends who can’t tolerate really any spice at all- which was a great challenge for me to come up with something new.
Holy crap, I’m glad I did.
This was BOMB!
And, it’s relatively simple and fast to make.
It even got the stamp of approval from a all the non-vegans I fed it to, which is how you know it’s win.
Photo: Okonomi Kitchen
Ingredients
This is good for 4 people
Sauce:
- 2 avocados
- 1 C raw, soaked cashews (unsalted)
- 1 head spinach
- 1/2 C nutritional yeast
- 1/2 white onion
- 4 cloves garlic
- Vegetable broth (click here to make your own!)
- Ground paprika
- Ground cumin
- Ground coriander
- Ground garlic
- Fresh oregano
- Dried Oregano flakes
- Sea salt
- Black pepper
Additional:
Zucchini (or pre-made zoodles)
Asparagus
2 cans Jackfruit (I used canned)
Instructions
I used 1 zucchini for each person served (4), but you can ration however feels right to you.
1.Let’s start with the sauce. First, add 1 C raw cashews to a small bowl with about 1 C boiling water. Cover, and let soak while you prepare the rest.
2. In a frying pan, add 1/2 white onion and 4 cloves of garlic. This will be blended, so it doesn’t matter how it’s cut up. Include 1/8 C vegetable broth (if you want to use oil, then use high quality oil instead), and spice with a dash of ground paprika, healthy dose of coriander, cumin, and garlic. Include dried oregano (I used quite a bit). Add sea salt and black pepper as you enjoy it. Cook on medium heat until robust aroma occurs.
3. While everything is cooking, add 2 avocados and 1 entire head of spinach to food processor. Include about 1/2 C fresh oregano, 1/2 C nutritional yeast, and 2 C vegetable broth (click here to make your own).
4. Once the spices have roasted to robust aroma on stove, and onions and garlic are soft and strong in scent/flavor- then you add those contents to the food processor.
5. Add the soaking cashews and boiling water to the food processor, as well.
6. Blend everything on high speed until creamy and smooth (you can blend on the “soup” setting if you have one).
7. If it seems too thick, then you can add either more boiling water or more vegetable broth. This is more of a personal preference, so you do you!
8. Once the sauce is blended to perfection, then add it to a pan and add in jackfruit. Let it cook on low-medium heat so the jackfruit soaks in all the flavor of the sauce. Option to add more spices as needed. Taste test along the way.
9. Let the jackfruit sit in the sauce for as long as you can. If you have the time, letting it sit for a few hours is ideal. But, if you’re short on time, then even just 20-30 mins is fine.
10. Once the jackfruit is cooked- spiral the zucchini (if you’re not using pre packaged). Again, I used 1 zucchini for each person eating.
11. Once the jackfruit is cooked, and the zucchini is spiraled- in a separate pan, lightly cook slivered or diced asparagus so that it still has some crunch.
12. Finally, lightly heat up zoodles on stove.
13. Plate zoodles, covered in jackfruit and sauce to your liking. Spinkle crunch asparagus on top.
14. Option to sprinkle diced cashews or pine nuts on top, as well.
ENJOY!