Maple cinnamon pecan milk

If you’ve read my almond milk post (which you surely have, right?), you’ve probably already had a snicker (or two or ten) over the idea of nut milk, so I’ll spare you the dirty jokes here. Besides, we’ve got more important business to attend to than wisecracking nut-milking quips—a GIVEAWAY! More on that at the end of this post, but first, the star of the show: Maple. Cinnamon. Pecan. Milk. Need I say more? This is a riff on a recipe in Sarma Melngailis’ book Raw Food/Real World, and it’s fantastic.

1 cup raw pecans
3 3/4 cups water
1/4 cup maple syrup
2 tsp vanilla extract
1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
Pinch of nutmeg
Pinch of sea salt

Soak the pecans in a bowl of filtered water for 4-8 hours, or overnight.



Drain and rinse the pecans well and place them in a high-speed blender with 3 3/4 cups of cold filtered water.



Cover and blend on high for 1-2 minutes or until smooth. Pour the milk through a nut milk bag into a pitcher or large bowl.



Strain the milk through the bag, squeezing and twisting and wringing to extract as much as possible. Transfer the nut meat from the bag to a small container and refrigerate for later use (add it to other goodies like oatmeal, smoothies, cookie dough, and so on). Pour the milk back into the (rinsed) blender and add the maple syrup, vanilla, cinnamon, nutmeg, and sea salt (and, if you want to be really indulgent, a spoonful of coconut oil!). Cover and blend to combine. Taste for sweetness, adding more maple syrup if desired, then pour into a pitcher or other container for storage.



Smooth, silky, luxurious—this stuff’s liquid velvet. It’s so rich and creamy that it’s almost closer in texture to a thin milkshake than simple milk, and maple syrup + pecans + cinnamon is a [polygamous] marriage made in flavor heaven. Normally I’d suggest all kinds of uses for a milk like this, but honestly, I’ve yet to ingest it in any way besides simply drinking it from a glass. It’s that good.



Yield: about 1 quart. Per 1-cup serving: I’m not sure! There is no good way to calculate how many calories and fat/protein grams are left behind in the nut meat. Since pecans seem to leave less pulp in the bag than almonds, it’s a fair bet that there’s more fat, and therefore calories, left in the milk. My very rough estimate for 1 cup of pecan milk would be about 90-100 calories and 7-8 grams of fat.

Oh, you thought I forgot, did you? Hardly! I am ecstatic to present to you the first-ever
ALMOST VEGAN GIVEAWAY!
The wonderful folks over at Pure Joy Planet have offered to award one of their excellent nut milk bags to three, count ’em, THREE lucky winners! This is the very bag I myself bought and use, and it works like a charm—this pecan milk and my almond milk can attest to that! You can also use it to strain juices or make sprouts. It’s versatile, sturdy, easy to clean, and you can win one here!

HOW TO ENTER: Leave a comment below telling me your favorite kind of nut and how you like to eat it—raw, roasted and salted, as nut butter, in a baked good, in a stir-fry? Now, I’m no stranger to having a little naughty fun when talking about nuts, but let’s keep it family-friendly and limit it to TREE nuts ;] The deadline for entries is Tuesday morning, May 25th, at 9:00am CST (which is around 3pm that afternoon for anyone in the U.K. and midnight that night for those of you in Australia), and I’ll be choosing the three winners at random. Good luck, everyone! I can’t wait to see who will win!



If you like this, you might also like...
Homemade almond milk
Very berry "green" smoothie
Watermelon agua fresca

Honey almond power bars

It must be power bar week! On Wednesday, Aimee posted some great-looking cherry energy bars, and here I am today with dried-fruit bars of my own. I bookmarked this recipe awhile back, and made it one morning before work—that’s how quick and easy it is. It’s one of those customize-at-will recipes; there are options for every single item on this ingredient list! Oats (old-fashioned or quick), almonds (use chopped walnuts or pecans instead), sunflower seeds (raw, salted, or honey-roasted), flaxseeds (whole or ground), sesame seeds (raw or toasted), cereal (puffed rice, kamut, or millet), dried fruit (add or substitute things like chopped dried cherries or apricots, goji berries, dark raisins, et al.), nut butter (almond, peanut, or cashew), sugar (raw/turbinado, sucanat, or brown), honey (use agave nectar or brown rice syrup instead), extract (vanilla or almond), and even the sea salt (just use good ol’ table salt).

Some people seem to think that an energy/power bar is the same thing as a protein bar, but they serve very different purposes. For an athlete, or anyone who runs marathons like me, it’s important to distinguish between the two. While protein bars can be good for recovery snacks or meal replacements, a power bar, or energy bar, is actually quite low in protein. It’s meant to be more of a carbohydrate delivery system, providing a mix of slow- and quick-release carbs to fuel workouts, balanced by small doses of fat (to slow digestion) and protein (to aid muscle recovery). So don’t look to a bar like this to keep you full for hours—eat one for a pre-workout energy boost instead.

1 cup old-fashioned rolled oats
1/4 cup sliced or slivered almonds
1/4 cup sunflower seeds
1 Tbsp flaxseeds
1 Tbsp sesame seeds
1 cup unsweetened whole-grain puffed cereal
1/3 cup dried blueberries
1/3 cup dried cranberries
1/3 cup golden raisins
1/4 cup creamy almond butter
1/4 cup raw (turbinado) sugar
1/4 cup honey
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
1/8 tsp sea salt

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Coat an 8x8-inch baking pan with cooking spray. Spread oats, almonds, sunflower seeds, flaxseeds and sesame seeds on a rimmed baking sheet.



Bake until the oats are lightly toasted and the nuts are fragrant, shaking the pan halfway through, about 10 minutes. Transfer to a large bowl. Add the cereal, blueberries, cranberries, and raisins; toss to combine.



Meanwhile, combine the almond butter, sugar, honey, vanilla and salt in a small saucepan. Heat over medium-low, stirring frequently, until the mixture bubbles lightly, 2 to 5 minutes.



Immediately pour the almond butter mixture over the dry ingredients and mix with a spoon or spatula until no dry spots remain.



Transfer to the prepared pan. Lightly coat your hands with cooking spray and press the mixture down firmly to make an even layer (wait until the mixture cools slightly if necessary). Refrigerate until firm, about 30 minutes, before cutting into 10 bars.



Store the bars in an airtight container at room temperature, or refrigerate for up to a week or freeze for up to a month; thaw at room temperature. These are more delicate than storebought power bars, but I’m quite happy to exchange durability for wholesomeness in this additive- and preservative-free snack. They’re toasty, fruity, nutty, and conveniently grab-and-go!



Yield: 10 bars. Per bar: 202 calories, 7.5g fat (1g sat), 32.2g carbs, 4g fiber, 4.5g protein.

If you like this, you might also like...
No-bake almond butter balls
Oat crumble jam bars
Banana wheat germ muffins

Crunchy salted cashew cookies

I found this recipe via Baking Bites and it immediately ascended to the top of my to-bake list. Cashews occupy the #2 spot on my list of favorite nuts (#3 being pecans, and #1 being, well, inappropriate), and a recent trip to Costco had netted me several pounds of them. These cookies were easy to veganize, and turned out so good on their own that I didn’t even bother sandwiching them with dulce de leche (though you should feel free to do so!). This may look like a lot of steps, but it’s really not; I’m just a nut butter fiend and went overboard taking pictures.

2 1/2 cups roasted, salted cashews
2 Tbsp peanut oil (or canola oil)
8 Tbsp (1 stick) Earth Balance, softened
1/2 cup sugar
3/4 cup brown sugar
1 Tbsp ground flaxseed
3 Tbsp water
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 cup all-purpose flour
2/3 cup whole wheat pastry flour
1 tsp coarse sea salt (optional)



Preheat the oven to 350 degrees and line baking sheets with parchment paper or Silpats. Place the cashews in the bowl of a food processor and pulse until roughly chopped. Remove 1/2 cup chopped cashews and set aside. Add the peanut (or canola) oil to the remaining cashews and process for one minute, until smooth. Mmm, homemade cashew butter!



Add the Earth Balance, sugar, and brown sugar...



...and process until smooth and creamy.



Add the flaxseed, water, and vanilla...



...and pulse until thoroughly combined. Add the flours in two parts, and pulse until just barely combined. Transfer the mixture to a large bowl and add the reserved chopped cashews.



Grease your hands with cooking spray and mix in the cashews by hand. Roll dough into about 36 balls (minus, as usual, the amount you snack on raw), placing 12 at a time on the baking sheet. Use a greased fork to press the cookies flat (like you would with peanut butter cookies; you can do a single fork mark or make a cross-hatch).



Sprinkle with coarse sea salt, if desired, and bake for 7-9 minutes (err on the side of underbaking). Transfer to a wire rack to cool completely (but they’re great warm, too!).

I never even got a closeup of one of the finished cookies, but in the picture below, the ones on the top pan just came out of the oven. After the cookies cool, their oily softness turns crispy and crunchy. Very reminiscent of PB cookies in flavor, the use of cashews adds a dimension of especial (monounsaturated) fattiness. I love how salty these are, too; the salt plays perfectly off the nuttiness and brown-sugared-sweetness. This made a pretty big batch, so a few days later, I actually ground up the last several cookies with just a little more oil, pressed the mixture into a greased pie plate, and froze it. Later, I used it as a cashew-licious crust for a vanilla pudding pie. Yum!



Yield: 3 dozen cookies. Per cookie: 126 calories, 7.7g fat (1.5g sat), 12.9g carbs, 1g fiber, 2.1g protein.

If you like this, you might also like...
Nutella-stuffed peanut butter cookies
Raw pecan pie cookies
Choc-oat banana walnut cookies

Homemade almond milk

Allow me to be crass for just a moment, please. I try to keep this blog family-friendly, but today, I just have to tell you that sometimes, a girl needs nuts. Yes, that’s right; there are just those times where nothing sounds more delicious than a shot of fresh, creamy nut milk. You could pay for someone else’s nut milk, but why would you do that when you can make your own at home? Sure, it takes a little manual labor, but it’s so worth it. All you need is a blender, a nut milk sack, er, bag, and some almonds, agave, and vanilla. Not only is it cheaper, but you get to experience the joy of squeezing the nut milk straight from the nut milk sack, freeing the sweet, velvety liquid from the rich nut meat left behind. When you’re done, you can remove the nut meat from the sack and save it for later uses as you enjoy your entire batch of fresh-squeezed nut milk in everything from cereal to baked goods. You can also whisk just a dab of nut milk into the nut meat and voilà! You’ve just made nut cream, a wonderful topping to drizzle on scones, pound cake, or fresh fruit. Ladies, there are so many ways to enjoy nuts and their tasty contents. As with this metaphor, you are only limited by your imagination!

1 cup raw almonds
3 Tbsp agave nectar (or to taste)
1 tsp vanilla extract

Soak the almonds in plenty of (filtered) water for 8 hours or overnight.



The next day, they’ll be swimming in a murky stew of enzyme inhibitors. Drain the almonds and rinse them well.



Place the almonds in a high-speed blender with 4 cups of cold (filtered) water. My Vitamix rocks! As you can see, some of the nut skin came off my almonds when I rinsed them, but it makes no difference.



Cover and blend into a frosty nut-blizzard! It’ll take a good minute or two to get smooth.



Pour the nut milk into a large bowl through a nut milk bag. I got mine here—it was cheap and shipping was free! If you don’t have a nut milk bag, you can use a fine sieve, just be prepared for it to take quite awhile to strain.



Squeeze and wring that nut milk bag – be gentle, but not too gentle – until all the milk is extracted, and you’re left with nothing but nut meat inside. (Alternatively, use a large spoon to help force the the nut milk through a fine sieve.) Transfer the nut meat to a small container to use in other treats—you can dry it out in the oven to turn it into almond meal/flour, or you can just add it to cookie dough or cake batter as-is. You can also stir it into oatmeal, blend it into smoothies, or (my favorite) top with a splash of honey or agave and eat with a spoon. Mmm, who doesn't love a nice big hunk of nut meat?!



Pour the nut milk from the bowl back into the (rinsed) blender. Add the agave and vanilla, and cover and blend for several seconds, until incorporated. Transfer the fresh ‘n frothy nut milk to a container and refrigerate for up to one week.

I love using it in recipes, eating it with cereal, and simply guzzling a tall, cold glass of it at my kitchen counter. Every mouthful is such a creamy treat, you wouldn't dream of not swallowing it all down! Make sure to share your nut milk with friends, too. If they like it, offer to let them try your nut meat as well, or to show them the perfect technique for massaging the nut milk from the sack. If the men in your life are squeamish about drinking nut milk, just tell them that real men eat nuts. This is simply too good to keep to yourself, people. Nut milk: all-natural, nutritious, and delicious.

Ok ok, I’m done! But truly...that joke will never get old.



Yield: about 1 quart. Per 1-cup serving: I’m not sure! There is no good way to calculate how many calories and fat/protein grams are left behind in the nut meat. If commercial almond milk is any indication, though, you can estimate that 1 cup will have roughly 40-50 calories and 3-4 grams of fat.

Use your nut milk or nut meat in…
Overnight steel-cut oatmeal
Rotini with walnut sauce
Cherry almond muffins

Nutty carob chip cookies

I realize I’ve had a lot of chocolate desserts on this blog lately. This is slightly out of the ordinary, since I wouldn’t even really consider myself "a chocolate person," but I chalk (choc?) it up to the fact that I’m dating a chocolate-lover. Thankfully, said chocolate-lover is also open-minded when it comes to my nuttier (to others) forays into cooking and baking with natural ingredients, so he’s welcomed such sweets as these carob chip cookies from Vegan Cookies Invade Your Cookie Jar.

1/3 cup soymilk
2 Tbsp ground flaxseed
1/2 cup canola oil
1 1/4 cups Sucanat (or other natural sugar)
2 tsp vanilla extract
1 1/2 cups whole wheat pastry flour
1/2 cup roasted carob powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
3/4 cup carob chips
3/4 cup roasted peanuts, chopped



Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper. In a large bowl, combine soymilk, flaxseed, canola oil, Sucanat, and vanilla; whisk until smooth.



Sift in the flour, carob powder, baking soda, baking powder, and salt.



Stir to combine, but don't overmix. Fold in the carob chips and peanuts.



Drop dough in 2-Tbsp balls onto the parchment-lined baking sheets, about two inches apart. Bake 8-10 minutes, remove from the oven, let cool on the baking sheet for 5 minutes, and then move to a wire rack to cool completely.



I’d never experimented with carob before, and I’m happy to report that I liked it! I found the carob flavor to be very pleasant, and I loved the crackled tops and crunchy nuts. You’re not going to fool anyone into believing these are chocolate, but if you think of them as a separate taste and enjoy them for what they are, I think they’re great. Even my chocolate-lover approved!



Yield: 24 cookies. Per cookie: 167 calories, 9.1g fat (2g sat), 20.3g carbs, 2g fiber, 2.8g protein.

If you like this, you might also like…
Chocolate peanut butter cookies
Choc-oat banana walnut cookies
Chocolate chip cookies

Overnight steel-cut oatmeal

I’m going to step away from my blogging backlog for a moment and present to you something not from last year, but from last night. I want to post this while there’s still plenty of cold-weather time left in the winter, so that you can enjoy this on a few upcoming chilly mornings.

Oatmeal! What could be simpler, right? Well, unless you have 30+ minutes free to prepare breakfast on weekday mornings (and if so, lucky you), you probably don’t get to enjoy steel-cut oatmeal very often, if at all. Steel-cut oats are toasted oat groats (the inner part of the oat kernel) that have been removed from the husk and cut by steel into two or three pieces, rather than being rolled. This means they are less processed than old-fashioned or quick oats, which is beneficial in a number of ways. The texture is better, for one—steel-cut oats are chewier and nuttier than rolled oats. As such, they are heartier and more substantial, thanks to the higher concentration of complex carbs (which are soluble-fiber-ful and therefore heart-healthy!). Not only will they keep you fuller longer, but they have a lower glycemic index than regular oats (42 vs. 66, respectively), so your blood sugar will stay steady.

The only bad part? They take forever to cook. This is easily remedied, though, with a slow cooker and a little advanced preparation. Substitute any nuts or dried fruits you want; I just used what I had in my pantry.

2 cups steel-cut oats
7 1/2 cups water
1/2 cup soymilk (vanilla or plain)
1/4 cup maple syrup
Pinch of salt
1/4 cup pecans, chopped
1/4 cup dried apricots, chopped
1/4 cup dried cherries, chopped
1/4 cup dried cranberries
1/4 cup dried blueberries
1/4 cup golden raisins
2 Tbsp ground flaxseed

The night before, gather your ingredients. Chop the pecans, apricots, and cherries. Set everything aside for the next morning.



Line a 5-6 quart slow cooker with a plastic liner (highly recommended!) and spray the inside generously with cooking spray. (Alternatively, just spray the slow cooker bowl itself very very well with cooking spray.) Add the oats, water, soymilk, maple syrup, and salt. Stir to combine.



Cover and cook on low for 8 hours overnight. My slow cooker automatically switches to warm after a set number of hours, but if yours doesn’t, it won’t hurt if you cook it a little beyond the 8 hours.

The next morning, uncover and add all remaining ingredients.



Stir to combine, re-cover, and cook on low for another 10-20 minutes.



I enjoyed mine this morning with an additional splash of vanilla soymilk and an extra glug of maple syrup. Again, customize to your heart’s content—use agave nectar or brown sugar in place of maple syrup, include diced apples and ground cinnamon instead of the dried fruit, or pump it up even further with a scoop of protein powder. This is an energizing, stick-to-your-ribs, power-packed breakfast if there ever was one!



Yield: 8 servings. Per serving: 274 calories, 6g fat (.5g sat), 53.1g carbs, 6g fiber, 7.6g protein.

If you like this, you might also like…
Blueberry cornbread muffins
Very berry "green" smoothie
Oat crumble jam bars

Raw pecan pie cookies

Have you ever thought about what you’d like your last meal to be? Now, I’m not planning on landing on death row anytime soon (although, morbid as it may be, I find this list fascinating), but I’ve given the last meal question ample consideration. I’d begin with an appetizer of hummus and pita. For my entrée, I struggle to decide between Thai Place’s cashew tofu stir fry (second pic here) and Touch of Asia’s dal makhani (right smack in the middle of this entry). Dessert, without a doubt, would be pecan pie.

I don’t know what it is about pecan pie that sings to my heart so, but I don't believe there’s anything more luscious than the syrupy symphony of sweetness that is pecan pie filling, knitted to the fragrant crunch of fresh pecans and married to a delicate, melt-in-your-mouth crust. Somebody get me a fan. Ahem. Anyway. This recipe comes courtesy of the legendary Ani Phyo, and the words "pecan pie" instantly landed it on my must-make list. Plus, it’s not only raw, but outrageously easy, so there was no excuse not to give it a try.

1 cup pecan halves
1 tsp ground cinnamon
1 tsp lemon juice
1 cup dates, pitted
Unsweetened flaked coconut, optional

Combine the pecans, cinnamon, and lemon juice in the bowl of a food processor. (As I wrote about last year, on my cruise to Mexico, I got to visit a farmer’s market in Mazatlán, where I was able to purchase cheap pecans and almonds [and a liter of vanilla; I’m still proud of that!]. My long-hoarded Mexican pecans found their home in these cookies.)



Pulse until the nuts are finely chopped. Add the dates...



...and pulse to form a mixture that can stay pressed together. The smell of the pulverized pecans is heavenly.



Line a baking sheet with parchment or wax paper. Divide the mixture into 10 equal portions and roll into balls. If desired, roll in unsweetened coconut. Flatten each to form a round cookie (I used the bottom of a glass, misted with cooking spray, to help). Place on the lined baking sheet.



(The four at the bottom I rolled in coconut.) Refrigerate (or freeze) the cookies to firm them up. Keep refrigerated to store.



It’s crazy that with so few ingredients, these do taste rather pecan pie-like. It’s not a dead ringer, of course, but the essence is there. The cookies are a little oily, quite chewy, and super-nutty. Until I can perfect a vegan pecan pie, these are a suitable swap to quell the craving.



Yield: 10 cookies. Per cookie: 124 calories, 7.9g fat (.5g sat), 14.8g carbs, 2g fiber, 1.4g protein.

If you like this, you might also like...
Choc-oat banana walnut cookies
Pumpkin oatmeal cookies

Rotini with walnut sauce (×2)

The first recipe I wanted to make when I bought Giada de Laurentiis’s third book, Everyday Pasta, was her rotelli with walnut sauce. As I was compiling a shopping list before leaving work one day, I googled the recipe so that I could pick up the goods on the way home. In my search, I came across Mark Bittman’s recipe for pasta with walnut sauce, from How to Cook Everything Vegetarian (which I also have at home). The two recipes were the same idea, but there were some subtle differences in ingredients and technique. I decided to play a little game—I would make a half batch of each sauce, and see how the two compare. Giada vs. Bittman! (My vegan interpretations of each, that is.)

One note before we begin: I cooked up a single box (13.25 oz.) of rotini and split it between the two sauces. I ended up wishing I’d cooked two boxes. These are half batches of sauce, but they made WAY more than was needed to coat the pasta. Maybe it’s just me—I guess when it comes to rich and creamy-ish sauces, a lot of people like their pasta swimming in it. I, being averse to most rich and creamy-ish things, do not, and it was just too cloying to me. I loved the flavor, but couldn’t handle that much of it. I’m sad to report that I ended up putting about 1/3 of the noodles in a colander, rinsing them clean, then mixing them back in, just to cut down on the heaviness. Such a waste! Unless you want walnut sauce with pasta instead of pasta with walnut sauce, make a full box of pasta for each half batch of sauce.

For Giada’s recipe:
1 box (13-16 oz.) whole wheat rotini
2/3 cup walnut halves, toasted
1T Earth Balance
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp black pepper
1/3 cup extra-virgin olive oil
2T nutritional yeast
2T dry breadcrumbs
1/4 cup plain soymilk
1/4 cup chopped flat-leaf parsley



Bring a large pot of salted water to boil over high heat. Add the pasta and cook according to package directions. Drain, reserving a cup of the pasta water. Meanwhile, combine the walnuts, Earth Balance, salt, and pepper in a food processor and pulse to combine.



With the machine running, drizzle in the olive oil in a steady steam. Once incorporated, pulse in the nutritional yeast and breadcrumbs. With the machine running, drizzle in the soymilk in a steady steam. Once incorporated, transfer the mixture to a large bowl.



Pretty, um...weird-looking, huh? Instead of adding the pasta followed by the pasta water, I put in about 1/2 cup of the water first so that I could smooth it out (and make it a little more appetizing/attractive).



Muuuch better. Add the hot cooked pasta and stir to distribute the sauce. Add the reserved pasta water, 1/4 cup at a time, until the sauce completely coats the pasta, using only as much as is needed (I didn’t need much extra, having thinned it out before). Sprinkle with parsley, toss and serve.

For Bittman’s recipe:
1 box (13-16 oz.) whole wheat rotini
1 small slice Italian bread
1/4 cup plain soymilk
1/2 cup walnut halves, toasted
1 clove garlic
2T nutritional yeast
2T dry breadcrumbs
1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil
Salt and black pepper to taste

Bring a large pot of salted water to boil over high heat. Add the pasta and cook according to package directions. Drain, reserving a cup of the pasta water. Soak the bread in the soymilk.



Let me pause for one moment here to tell you why I did what I did. Though I absolutely love bread, and am in fact a bit of a fiend for it, I almost never have it in my house. I’d say I buy, on average, 1-2 loaves of bread per year. Why? I just don’t use it IN things. I don’t eat sandwiches, so that nixes that. Though I love a good slice of bread toasted, drizzled with olive oil, and sprinkled with garlic salt, I get my fill of such things in restaurants, and I don’t want to have to eat a whole loaf of bread that way. As for recipes, I almost never make any that require bread. The last time I had bread in my fridge was for my white bean and broccoli pasta toss, which necessitated fresh breadcrumbs. And I struggled to use the rest of that loaf! So anyway, I generally don’t buy bread, and I certainly wasn’t going to buy any just to use one slice here. Instead, I did some off-the-cuff problem solving in the store, and grabbed three packets of these little Lance bread sticks off the salad bar. Since they were going to be soaked and ground, the texture difference didn’t really matter.

So, whatever kind of bread you have, soak it in the soymilk. Combine the nuts, garlic, nutritional yeast, and breadcrumbs in a food processor and pulse to combine. Then, with the machine running, add the oil gradually, using just enough so that the mixture forms a very thick paste. Add the bread-and-soymilk mixture...



...and just enough water to make a saucy mixture. Season with salt and pepper to taste.



Transfer to a large bowl and toss with the hot pasta. If the sauce appears too thick, thin it with the pasta water, a little at a time. Adjust seasoning to taste, and serve.

And now, the finished products, side by side:



Which is which, you ask? Well, I have a confession to make—I don’t exactly remember. I’m 75% sure that Giada’s is on the left and Bittman’s is on the right, but I can’t be certain. You know what, though? It doesn’t matter. They tasted nearly identical. Despite the extra 57 calories and 6.8g fat, Giada’s version was only marginally richer, and even that difference was barely detectable. Both were deliciously nutty and just barely creamy, with deep olive oil undertones and a hint of hearty "cheesiness" from the nutritional yeast. If I must pick a winner, I’d say the edge goes to Bittman, simply because his tasted just as decadent, but had fewer calories and less fat. Hooray for experimentation!

So after all that work of making two separate sauces, would you believe I ended up just mixing the batches together to pack up as leftovers?



Giada’s recipe—Yield: 6 servings. Per serving: 458 calories, 23.7g fat (3g sat), 54g carbs, 8g fiber, 13.2g protein.
Bittman’s recipe—Yield: 6 servings. Per serving: 401 calories, 16.9g fat (2g sat), 54.6g carbs, 7g fiber, 12.9g protein.

If you like this, you might also like...
White bean & broccoli pasta toss
Spaghetti with raw tomato sauce
Tofu parmigiana alla marinara