Mushroom-Artichoke Cream Sauce

I love sauce. Any kind of sauce. 

Dipping, smothering, slathering... you name it. When it comes to sauce, if it can be done, I will do it. Or at least attempt. 

We ate this sauce over grilled chicken (local organic= happy chicken) with a side of sauteed spinach, but its just as good over grilled veggies or pasta! It feels like fancy-pants kind of food, but its super simple to make and loaded with sneaky nutrients thanks to the cashews and nutritional yeast.

If you've been following along for a while, you might remember that I'm a big fan of these little nuts (and most other little nuts, literally and figuratively :).

Cashews (and other nuts.. the literal ones, not so much the figurative ones) have high amounts of antioxidants, and with the ever increasing number of free-radicals in our environment, I'm happy to get all the cell-loving antioxidants I can. For some great information on cashews, check out this article.

But you really didn't think I was going to stop there, did you? Hellloooooo, nutritional yeast... oh, you haven't met? You simply MUST get acquainted! 
Nutritional yeast is beaming with B-12 vitamins. For vegans, or for anyone who limits animal products in their diet, B-12 is a hot commodity. Its difficult to find outside the animal kingdom, but it is an essential nutrient (read= MUST have. Not should have, or would be a good idea to have. Essential nutrients= absolute necessity for health).  

This recipe is super versatile. Feel free to add your own spices or veggies (I'm thinking rosemary or sage next time). You'd have to work really hard to screw it up!

Mushroom-Artichoke Cream Sauce
 1/2 cup cashews (preferably soaked)
1/2 cup water
2 tablespoons nutritional yeast 
1 garlic clove
2 tablespoons red wine
6 baby portabella mushrooms
6 artichoke hearts, quartered
1/2 onion, chopped 
salt and pepper

Saute onion, garlic and mushrooms in red wine until vegetables are tender but still firm. Combine cashews, water, and nutritional yeast in blender until smooth. Pour blended cashew sauce into sauce pan over medium-high heat. Add mushroom/onion mixture to the cashews sauce. Cook until heated to a boil, stirring continuously. Add artichokes and salt/pepper. Stir to combine. You may want to add more wine (or water) to thin out the sauce, as needed. 

This recipe was included in Slightly Indulgent Tuesday and Seasonal Sunday. 

Before I leave you to your Monday night, I came across a quote recently that I wanted to share. 

“We are all functioning at a small fraction of our capacity to live fully in its total meaning of loving, caring, creating and adventuring. Consequently, the actual­izing of our potential can become the most exciting adventure of our lifetime.” – Herbert Otto

What do you do, everyday, to remind yourself to live fully?

Holy Wah: Cilantro Lime Burritos

Remember how I was all "create your own happiness" and "be good to yourself"? Yeah, nothing like being challenged with a taste of my own medicine. Holy wah, my life just got busy. Work has been crazy cats lately (I just made up the phrase crazy cats, I'm probably never going to use it again). Its much easier to stay positive, eat healthy, and be kind to myself when my life is in balance. When its crazy cats (seriously, last time) I'm a pizza craving lunatic. Stressful life = stressful eating. I mean, who really craves a salad when they're stressed out? Broccoli? No. Try pizza. For me, its pizza every time (am I the only one.....?). Instead, my body (and sanity) needs me to create balance. Now more than ever. (Before you get excited, I'm not going to be posting a pizza recipe today. I know, total let down.)

Today's game plan: Do things that make me happy and support de-stressing. Pronto!

Smile. At strangers. At myself. In the mirror. It doesn't matter as long as your smiling. 


Dance. Thank you Pandora for the 80's channel. Nothing really highlights my dance moves quite like Cindy Lauper. (and can you really NOT smile while dancing to 80's music? These two go hand in hand). 


Breathe. I recently got into yoga and couldn't be more happy about my new found love. "Breathing in, I know that I'm alive. Breathing out, I smile to my aliveness" -Thich Naht Hahn

This plan got me through the day, in one piece, without ANY flailing at all! It was enough to break my pizza craving and motivate me to cook. Dont forget, we gotta keep the cells happy! My cells love grain-free, dairy-free burritos (tacos?) with cilantro lime cream sauce. (and they hate pizza... darn them!)

 

With hot sauce

 Without hot sauce

To make the tortillas, I used this recipe. I have had LOTS of trial and error making grain-free tortillas, and this one is by far (by FAR!) the best. It is a little time consuming, so normally I make it up ahead of time. I always have leftovers too, and they're good for sandwich wraps, or basically anything that you would use a regular tortilla for.  

Burraco Filling:

(my husband and I couldn't agree on whether these were burritos or tacos)  

1/2 lb grass-fed ground beef

1/4 zucchini, diced

1/4 red onion, diced

2 stalks of collard greens, diced (or any leafy green, thats just what I had)

5 mushrooms, diced

Taco Seasoning (makes enough for 1lb of meat):

1 Tbsp chili powder

1/4 teas garlic powder

1/4 teas onion powder

1/4 teas crushed red pepper flakes

1/4 teas oregano

1/2 teas paprika

1 1/2 teas cumin

salt and pepper

Saute vegetables until soft, remove from pan and place in bowl for later. Brown ground beef until almost cooked. Add 1/2 of the taco seasoning and the veggies back to the pan. Put just enough water to cover the veggie/meat and stir in seasoning. Cook down until water is mostly gone. Stuff the tortilla shells with meat/veg mixture and cover in cilantro-lime cream sauce. 

Cilantro Lime Cream Sauce:

1/2 cup cashews (soaked for 4+ hours)

1 cup loosely packed cilantro

2 teas lime juice

1 Tbsp apple cider vinegar

2 Tbsp water

1/4 teas cayenne pepper

salt and pepper

Combine in blender or food processor and blend until creamy. Top your burrito with anything that makes your heart happy! Enjoy!

What gets you through a stressful day? (other than pizza) 

This recipe was included in Real Food Weekly and Seasonal Sunday