Say Cheese! Mock Cheese Sauce

People that are considering the transition to animal free diets or who have found out that they are dairy intolerant often say "I can't give up cheese."  It is the food I crave the most and indulge in when I fall of the wagon despite the fact that it makes me ill every time I eat it.  Sounds like the story of any addict.  I have been trying for the past six years to create something that at least gives the same happy sensation that cheese does to my brain and I have finally mastered it. It will not fulfill the need to slice a piece of cheese and eat it but it works for sauce, mac 'n' cheese, and by adding a cream cheese substitute to it you can make a great spread for quesadilla's.

Ingredients: 

2 1/2 Tbs tamari
1 Tbs Lemon Juice
1 Tbs yellow miso
1 Tbs tomato paste
1 Tbs Nutritional Yeast
1/3 cup Earth Balance(or butter substitute)
1/4 cup all purpose flour
1 cup vegetable broth

Mix all ingredients except broth, Earth Balance and flour together and put aside.  In sauce pan use the Earth Balance and flour to make a roux(melt Earth Balance over low heat and slowly add the flour whisking it till it becomes a paste.) Now mix in the mixture of ingredients(not broth) and continue to whisk.  Once it is mixed in with the roux slowly add broth still whisking(my daughter Anzia does the whisking for me!) The sauce will thicken. Use your imagination.

Mock Mac 'n' Cheese
Preheat oven to 400. Cook 3 cups dry pasta of choice and cook as normal. In casserole dish combine 3/4 of mock cheese mixture and cooked pasta (my family likes to add broccoli.) Pour the remaining mock cheese over the top. We like to add fried onion bits over the top before baking but it is not necessary. Bake for 25 minutes or until brown on top.

Quesadilla
Add fake cream cheese to mixture after you have completed all other steps until it is the consistency of a cheese spread. When making for my daughter as a snack I just spread it over a tortilla, fold it in half and toast in toaster oven on medium.  When I am doing the adult version i saute spinach and mushrooms. Spread cheese over tortilla cover with spinach mushroom mixture and top with another tortilla. Then bake in oven on 350 for approx 8 minutes.