Cashew Mac n Cheez {Vegan}

So far I have made potato and carrot cheez sauce, winter squash cheez sauce, one with beans in it  and just got around to making cashew cheez sauce.

I feel like my favorite version is the cashew so far. I have heard that using a raw cashew butter can replace raw cashews and having to blend them. I don't know the ratio and I haven't tried this version. The cashew butters near me are pricey and buying a pound of raw cashews is cheaper and I have had success with using them.

I have seen several versions on YouTube and recently found this one from a few yeas back on Ingrid's channel! I tweaked it a little bit.

I also don't have a fancy high speed blender.
This is part of the reason why I have been hesitant to test it out.
Many recipes will tell you to soak them for 30 minutes to a few hours or even overnight.
If you have a high speed blender, blend away.
But I was advised to boil the cashews for about 10 to 15 minutes, drain and rinse them.

I ended up boiling them for about 13 minutes. drained and rinsed I tossed them into the blender with the other ingredients.

Some ingredients are optional. I have even see people substitute with sunflower seeds in place of the cashews. I haven't tried that yet, but it is on the list!

INGREDIENTS:

• Pasta of choice, one package
• 1 1/2 cups raw cashews (boiled for 10-15 min or soaked if using a high speed blender)
• 2 tsp garlic powder (or one fresh clove)
• 1/2 to 1 tsp onion powder
• 1/4 cup nutritional yeast
• 3/4 of liquid - broth, non-dairy milk (unflavored and unsweetened) or water will work) I used cashew milk
• Salt and pepper to taste
• 1/2 tsp turmeric
• 1 tsp dijon (could use yellow mustard or ground mustard powder)
• 3 tbsp lemon juice
• pinch of smoked paprika (optional)
• 1 tsp corn starch 
• 1 tsp miso (optional, all I had was red miso)

The type of blender I used was Ninja Master Prep and it was given to me by my grandma.