KITCHEN CURATIONS: SPAGHETTI ALFREDO...THE HEALTHY WAY!

This recipe comes with a short little story. It's short, I swear! But if you're in a rush you can totally just scroll down for the recipe...I won't be offended. I also won't even know. ;)

Okay, story time:

If you've read my bio, then you know that my road to becoming a nutritionist started with me being an overweight child. My mom claims to this day that I was cute, but she's my mom and has to say that. The fact of the matter is, had I continued on the path that I was paving, I would have likely ended up an obese adult. Anywhere I went, I would inevitably order something indulgent. If we were at a diner, it would be mozzarella sticks and grilled cheese. If we were ordering Chinese, it would be sesame chicken and dumplings. And if we went for Italian, it would be spaghetti Alfredo. Needless to say, when I decided to take control of my diet there were lots of changes that I had to make. Cutting out spaghetti Alfredo was one of them. (For those who aren't familiar, Alfredo sauce has essentially 3 ingredients: butter, cream, and cheese. Need I say more?)

Don't get me wrong, I'm all about a mindful treat and don't believe in "never" foods. But to be honest, spaghetti Alfredo just never made the cut of what I wanted to indulge on. I'd much prefer pizza or ice cream. In fact, I never really thought about it until a few weeks ago when I stumbled upon a healthy recipe for Alfredo sauce. This of course sparked my culinary curiosity and I was determined to try and come up with a recipe of my own.

Truth be told, I didn't have much faith in myself, but I was totally impressed by the result! Not only is the sauce creamy and delicious, but it actually adds nutritional value to your meal. It's a total win-win!

The recipe below has the sauce as part of a composed dish, but you can obviously just make the sauce on it's own. I have additional serving suggestions following the recipe. As always, you do you!

INGREDIENTS: (makes 20 servings)

Roasted Broccoli:

• 5 cups broccoli, florets and stems
• 3 Tbsp extra virgin olive oil
• 1/2 tsp sea salt
• 1/2 tsp onion powder
• 1/2 tsp garlic powder

Roasted Spaghetti Squash:

• 1 very large or 2 medium spaghetti squash
• 2 Tbsp extra virgin olive oil
• 1 tsp sea salt 
• 1/8 tsp black pepper pepper

Vegan Alfredo Sauce:

• 1/2 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 8 cups cauliflower florets
• 1 cup unsweetened plain almond milk
• 2 cup low sodium vegetable broth
• 2 tbsp dried mushroom, chopped
• 1/4 cup nutritional yeast
• 2 tsp onion powder
• 1 tsp garlic powder
• 3 Tbsp fresh lemon juice
• 1 tsp kosher salt
• 1/2 tsp pepper, to taste

Toppings:

• 1/4 cup nutritional yeast
• 1 cup slivered almonds, chopped
• 2 Tbsp parsley, chopped

DIRECTIONS:

Roasted Broccoli:

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees Farenheit.
2. Place broccoli in a steamer and steam for 10-15 minutes, or until slightly tender.
3. When the broccoli is done steaming, place on a baking sheet and coat in olive oil, salt, onion powder, and garlic powder.
4. Roast for 45 minutes, or until edges are starting to get crispy. 

Roasted Spaghetti Squash:

1. Cut spaghetti squash in half, lengthwise.
2. Place on a baking sheet, skin side down and put olive oil, salt, and pepper on the flesh.
3. Roast in the oven for an hour, or until flesh is tender.
4. When squash is done, remove it from the oven and let it cool.
5. When squash has cooled, remove flesh with a fork so that it forms its signature spaghetti strands. There should be about 5 cups worth.

Vegan Alfredo Sauce:

1. In a pan, sauté the garlic in olive oil until garlic is tender, but not burnt. 
2. While the garlic is sautéing put almond milk, broth, cauliflower, and dried mushrooms into a big pot. Bring to a boil, cover, and reduce to a simmer.
3. When garlic is ready, add it to the pot along with the nutritional yeast, onion powder, and garlic powder. 
4. After 40 minutes, or when cauliflower is tender, turn off heat and let mixture cool. 
5. Once mixture has cooled, pour the contents of the pot into a high speed blender.
6. Add in lemon juice, salt, and pepper, and blend until mixture is smooth.

To assemble:

1. Combine spaghetti squash and broccoli in a bowl.
2. Pour 2 cups of the Alfredo sauce over the top. (Keep the rest in the fridge for future use. I promise, it won't go to waste!)
3. Mix until everything is coated in sauce.
4. Toast almonds in a dry sauté pan or in the oven on high heat until slightly toasted. (Don't walk away because these burn quickly!)
5. Sprinkle nutritional yeast, almonds, and parsley on top of spaghetti, and serve!

A few notes about this recipe:

1. If you want your sauce to be even thicker, once you blend it you can put it back in the pot on the stove and let it simmer with the top off until it reaches the desired consistency. 
2. I opted to use spaghetti squash as my base, but feel free to sub in real pasta (I recommend whole wheat), legume pasta (love the Tolerant brand), or spiralized veggies (like squash or zucchini).
3. I usually don't like to denote food as being kid-friendly because I want to be open to the idea that kids might like all kinds of foods, this sauce has the potential to be be a real child-pleaser!