i didn’t watch the Super Bowl, or the puppy bowl for that matter, but for some reason i had a hankering for salty tortilla chips dunked in neon orange goo with a side of salsa. the hubby is back home again, and he too had a craving for bar food, but instead of plunking down $30+ bucks for a few rounds and some so-so vegan nachos at a local bar, we made our own! *i’m also still trying to ride the Gluten-free train as much as possible, and vegan nachos at the bar usually involve wheat flour in the nooch sauce, so making my own also saved me from a few days of achy joints! yay! i think this is my best version of cheesy sauce yet, and i’ll give you a few GF options to tweak it! (just for you, clairedo!) chickpea flour thickens this like a dream, and it doesn’t get gelatinous when it cools, so you don’t need to resort to trickery when you want to reheat it.
Basic Gluten Free Cheezy Sauce
2 cups Unsweetened Almond Milk
1 heaping tbs raw cashew butter
1 tbs miso paste- white
1/4 tsp sea salt *or more if you really like salt or won’t be dumping this on salted chips
1 tsp onion powder
1/4 tsp garlic powder
1/4 tsp smoked paprika
1/4 tsp turmeric
1 c nutritional yeast flakes, aka nooch
1/2 tsp apple cider vinegar, this adds a little “tang”
3 tbs garbanzo bean flour, also called besan, gram, or chana dal flour at indian grocers
3 tbs water
this is super duper easy:
melt the cashew butter over low heat in a heavy bottomed saucepan. whisk in everything else except for the water and the chickpea flour and increase the heat to medium high. slowly whisk the water into the chickpea flour, and stir until completely smooth. add some of the hot sauce into the chickpea flour to help warm it, (much like tempering eggs if you’re familiar) whisking until smooth. now, slowly whisk the chickpea mixture into your sauce and keep stirring until thick and smooth. enjoy as is, or follow some options for tinkering!
10 am nacho fix!
for nacho/queso cheese:
add 1/4 tsp chipotle pepper powder, and up to 1 c of your favorite salsa. you may need an extra tablespoon of chickpea flour if your salsa is runny. you can also fold in a cup of daiya pepperjack or cheddar if you want the consistency of stadium/pump cheese, but after experimenting, i don’t notice a big difference in flavor to make it worth a 5$ bag of cheese.
for mac and cheese:
double the sauce recipe and use regular paprika instead of smoked. add a pinch of ground nutmeg. fold into one pound of al dente quinoa or brown rice noodles (or regular if you tolerate gluten). then, fold in up to an entire bag of daiya if you really, really want to go overboard on the cheesiness factor. i sometimes like a small sprinkle on top, but i won’t judge 
spoon into a lightly oiled casserole, cover, and bake for 30 minutes, or until bubbly.
bechamel style- great as a fondue dip:
skip turmeric, omit 1/2 of the nutritional yeast. add a pinch of nutmeg and an extra tsp of onion powder. serve with blanched vegetables, cubes of bread-regular or gluten free, olives, and wine.
