CHEESY WINTER FRIES

I’ve been meaning to post this cashew cheese sauce recipe for a while but keep getting distracted with other ideas. Then I got a celeriac in my weekly veg bag.

Celeriac? Hmmm, what to cook..

I’m not really a big root veg fan, beets I like, but I don’t get excited about parsnips, swede and all that  rootiness. I’ve had clients who love celeriac, so I’ve used it a fair bit, raw and cooked but I never buy it for myself. So what to cook?

Then it was obvious, cheesy celeriac fries of course! I’d had sweet potato fries on the brain so this seemed perfect. Celeriac and sweet potato fries :)) I love aubergine so I thought I’d throw that in there too.

The recipe for the fries was adapted slightly from one of my favourite, blogs, ( I may’ve mentioned once or twice) My New Roots . Sarah Britten is a holistic nutritionist and chef. Her writing, knowledge and recipes are so inspiring it’s always a great and delicious read.

So here it is, cheesy fries; mega comfort food but from a more healthful angle. This is a fairly classic vegan cheese sauce recipe. Here I used carrots instead of squash as some recipes do, they produce a delicious sauce and I have so very many carrots. (veg bag overload). :0

The cheesiness is coming from the nutritional yeast, a mildly addictive, cheesy sprinkle you can add a little to dressings to give a creaminess, this sauce for a cheesiness. Sprinkled on salads, chips, popcorn for a bit of extra flavour and nutrient hit.

So here you go.. Healthy comfort food! ;)

Cheesy Winter Fries 

Serves 3- 4 as a side

I large sweet potato

1 celeriac

1 medium aubergine

2 tbsp coconut oil

4 tbsp polenta

1 tbsp smoked paprika

generous pinch sea salt or to taste

nutritional yeast to finish

Chipotle cheese sauce

150g cashews, soaked for 4 hours or overnight

2 med- large carrots – cut into chunks and steamed until soft

1 tsp Dijon mustard

1 tsp smoked paprika

1 tsp chipotle powder

1 clove garlic

3tbsp nutritional yeast

1 tbsp apple cider vinegar

75ml olive oil

150ml water

salt to taste

Pre heat oven 200c. Rinse and peel your celeriac using a sharp knife to cut off the knobbly bits. These can collect a lot of dirt so make sure you rinse well after slicing.

Slice into 1cm thick even chip slices, rinse and pat dry on a clean cloth and leave to air dry while you prep the other veg.

Scrub you sweet potato but leave the peel, rinse your aubergine. Slice both into 1 cm thick even chips pieces.

Rinse the sweet potato, pat dry and place with the celeriac. Melt your coconut oil, in a large bowl add your fries and coat evenly in the oil, mix well, add your polenta, paprika and salt, mix again so they are all coated.

Spread out on two large baking trays lined with parchment paper. Separating the celeriac, aubergine and sweet potato. The aubergine will cook a little faster so you can take this out of the oven first.

Place trays in the oven to roast for 30-40 minutes, after 20 minutes the aubergine should be done, it will be nicely browned and crisp. You may need to turn the tray around half way through cooking as some ovens have hotter spots.

The chips should be browned and crispy when they come out. Transfer to a serving dish or individual bowls and sprinkle with nutritional yeast.

While your chips are cooking you can make your cheesy cashew sauce.

Drain the cashews and rinse, add all ingredients to a high powered blender and blitz until smooth. Check for seasoning and enjoy as a side or just like this.