Chicken Alfredo

Well it certainly has been a while since I posted! Not that I haven't been cooking...it's just been more clean-out-the-refrigerator-and-scrap-together-a-meal-because-you-just-started-a-new-job kind of cooking, and it's embarrassingly not blog-worthy. But you know what is? This dish. The air's getting a bit of a nip in it so I whipped up this tasty, hearty pasta for us last week. If you've been following this blog lately you'll know that my new-ish Vitamix is slowly creeping its way up the list of things that I love in life, so yes, this was another dish that was created in the spirit of wanting to use the Vitamix.

Chicken Alfredo (serves 4)

3/4 cup raw cashews, soaked in water for a few hours
4 cloves garlic
1 large shallot
1 Tbls. vegan butter
1/2 cup nutritional yeast
1 tsp. sea salt
1/2 tsp. pepper
1/4 tsp. citric acid
1/4 cup soy milk
1 Tbls. olive oil
1 cup veggie broth
4 cups chopped cauliflower florets (about 1/2 head)
4 cups chopped broccoli florets (about 1 large crown)
1 cup frozen peas
4 servings whatever pasta you want (we used penne)
1 package Gardein Chick'n Strips Grilled

Preheat the oven to 400 F (if you have a toaster oven that will be much more energy efficient). Peel the garlic, chop off the weird ends, and wrap in tin foil. Roast until you need them later in the recipe (20-30 minutes).

Post-roasting

In a medium pan heat the butter over low-medium heat. Chop the shallot and saute until it has lost most of its purple hue. Remove from heat and set aside if it's done before you need it (next step...)

While the shallot is roasting, chop the cauliflower and add to a large, microwave-safe bowl with the veggie broth. Microwave for 4-5 minutes until tender. While the cauliflower is cooking, chop the broccoli into florets.

*Note: At some point in this recipe you will need to cook your pasta. Depending on what kind you use this may take more or less time - at any rate, figure out when to start your pasta based on the cooking time. Cook the pasta 2-3 minutes less than the recommended cooking time, and have it be "done" when the sauce and veggies are.

Drain the cauliflower, reserving the broth. Add the broccoli to the broth and microwave for 3-4 minutes, then add the peas and microwave for an additional minute. Drain the broccoli and peas, setting aside the veggies and reserving the broth.

Drain the cashews. Add the cauliflower to the blender along with the cashews, roasted garlic, shallot and butter, nutritional yeast, salt, pepper, citric acid, and soy milk. While the blender is running, add  the olive oil. If it's too thick add the reserved veggie broth until it's to your liking. (If it's all good, you don't need the broth anymore.)

Transfer the sauce to a large pot and heat over medium heat. Add in the pasta and veggies and cook for a few minutes.

While the pasta is cooking heat the "chicken" over medium-high heat in a dry skillet until warmed through and slightly charred. This doesn't take that long so watch it carefully!

Serve the pasta topped with chicken and enjoy!