Creamy Cashew-Garlic Alfredo

This is one of the first successful vegan recipes I "wrote", years ago when I was first struggling into veganism, It was a hit then, and it's still my family's first choice when I ask them what they want for dinner.

All my non-vegan friends love this recipe as well, and I'm pretty sure most of them don't even realize it's vegan. Some of them have been known to call me in the middle of the night, begging me to bring some to work the next day.

The sauce is great because it's simple, you probably have the ingredients in your pantry, and it was written to work in your average Target-variety food processor; that's how I've always made it.
However, I recently got a Vita-Mix and I have to tell you, *WOW* it's quite lovely for sauces like this too! I do have to double or triple the sauce to make it mix well in the larger Vita-Mix container. Not a problem...We've been enjoying a LOT of Alfredo lately!!
Use whatever machine you have, it will be delicious...

Cashew Garlic Alfredo Sauce

1/2 cup raw cashews (not roasted)
1-2 tsp. fresh lemon juice (I don't measure, just a good squeeze)
1 1/2 cups boiling water
2 cloves garlic, crushed (or more to taste)
1 Tbsp. extra-virgin olive oil
2 Tb. nutritional yeast (optional)

• Pulverize raw cashews in the food processor until very fine but do NO turn them into cashew butter. 
• Add 1 1/2 cups boiling water. (*The BEST way to do this, is to make the sauce while the pasta cooks - scoop out 1 1/2 cups of lightly salted pasta-cooking water and use it - the starch from the pasta-cooking water thickens the sauce PERFECTLY!)
• Add water to cashews and process until smooth... this will take several minutes.
• Add nutritional yeast (optional - I love it, but my kids prefer it without), garlic cloves, olive oil and squeeze of lemon juice.Process again until smooth, another couple minutes, it'll start to thicken a bit!
• Taste and adjust seasonings, adding more lemon, salt, pepper or garlic to your tastes. Makes a decadently creamy sauce! Serve over hot pasta, rice, potatoes, whatever!

This stuff is wonderfully simple and tastes SO very good. I often add sauteed mushrooms, chives, chopped olives or sundried tomatoes, depending on my mood.