Look for cutting edge chefs at this year’s Vegfest. This year you’ll find new chefs such as Beverly Lynn Bennett author of Spiralize and Chia: Using this Ancient Superfood; Michelle Schwegmann, author of Eat Like You Give A Damn! and Chef Kanya Habsa of Sukho Thai restaurant, along with returning favorites such as our expert Indian chef Archana Verma, and cookbook author Alan Roettinger. See the complete line-up of chefs at Vegfest this year.

Beverly kindly shared a recipe from her cookbook, Spiralize: Transform vegetables and fruits from ordinary to extraordinary, with us. She will be presenting other recipes from this cookbook and her Chia cookbook at Vegfest on April 9 & 10.

Noodles with Cashew Alfredo

Yield: 4 servings

Soaked cashews are used in this recipe to create a rich, creamy, vegan version of Alfredo sauce, perfect for coating spiralized vegetable noodles.

 

1 cup raw cashew pieces, soaked for 1 hour and drained

1¼ cups water

¼ cup nutritional yeast flakes

Zest and juice of 1 lemon (1 to 1½ tablespoons zest and 3 to 4 tablespoons juice)

2 large cloves garlic

1 teaspoon sea salt

½ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

⅛ teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg

3 large or 4 medium zucchini, yellow squash, or peeled medium sweet potatoes or carrots, or a combination

 

To make the sauce, put the cashews, water, nutritional yeast, lemon zest and juice, garlic, salt, pepper, and nutmeg in a blender and process until completely smooth, stopping once to scrape down the blender jar. Transfer to a medium saucepan and cook over medium heat, whisking occasionally, until thickened, 3 to 5 minutes. Remove from the heat.

To make the noodles, use a tri-blade spiralizer, vertical spiral slicer, or handheld hourglass spiral slicer to cut the zucchini into thin or thick spaghetti strands. Leave the strands intact, or for easier eating, cut with a knife into 4-inch lengths. Transfer to a large bowl, add the sauce, and toss gently. Serve immediately.

Variation: To serve as a cooked pasta dish, steam, microwave, or boil the zucchini or cook it in a skillet with a little oil until tender, 2 to 3 minutes. Transfer to a large bowl, add the sauce, and toss gently. Serve hot. Makes 3 servings.