Yes, this is a no cream Creamed Spinach recipe! One of my favorite vegetable dishes, creamed spinach is something I dearly missed being dairy free. After some research, I came across this Vegan Creamed Spinach recipe from Detoxinista.com. Let me tell you, it is GOOD.
Really, you could make the cashew garlic cream sauce and use it on anything you’d like — as a pasta sauce; stirred in with some sautéed mushrooms; or even ladled over sliced potatoes for a vegan potatoes au gratin!
Two options for soaking cashews –
- Measure cashews and put in a glass jar or container. Cover with water and let soak, refrigerated, overnight.
- Measure cashews and cover with boiling water. Let stand for an hour.
Either option works, the important thing is to make sure they are well-soaked and softened so they will blend smoothly into a creamy sauce.
When draining the cashews, you can save the liquid they soaked in to use as the 1 cup of water in the recipe. (It’s not a necessity, but its always worked well for me.)
For best flavor, sauté the onion and garlic and let cool before adding to blender to make the sauce. The alternative is to leave them whole and add them into the sauce after its blended, but I found its best when smooth and blended all together.
adapted from detoxinista.com
INGREDIENTS
- 1 cup whole cashews
- 3 pounds spinach, de-stemmed (fresh or frozen)
- 2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
- ½ yellow onion, diced.
- 4 cloves garlic, minced or sliced depending on preference.
- 1 cup water
- 1 teaspoon lemon juice
- 1 teaspoon apple cider vinegar
- 1 ½ teaspoon salt
- ½ teaspoon black pepper
- ¼ teaspoon ground nutmeg
DIRECTIONS
- Soak the cashews. Measure and soak overnight in the fridge, OR measure into a bowl, cover with boiling water and let stand for one hour.
- Blanch the spinach. Remove spinach stems and roughly chop the leaves. Bring a large pot of water to a boil with a pinch of salt. Add the spinach. Cook for two minutes. If using frozen, cook extra two minutes to allow for defrosting.
- Drain the spinach. Using a colander, drain the spinach. Rinse with cool water in the sink. Gently squeeze all excess water from the spinach. Make sure the spinach has as little water in it as possible, or it will cook into the sauce and make it watery.
- Sauté onions and garlic. Heat olive oil over medium heat. Add onions and garlic. Saute for five minutes and remove from heat.
- Prep the sauce. Drain cashews. Add cashews, water, lemon juice, apple cider vinegar, salt and nutmeg to blender. Add cooled garlic and onions. Blend until smooth.
- Combine the sauce and spinach. In the pan, add drained spinach and pour over sauce. Warm until heated through. Serve!