This post is dedicated to everyone who is sweltering in the summer heat at the moment AND to my friend Daina, who has been really successful at incorporating more vegan and raw foods into her diet over the past month. Going vegan is one thing, but going raw is a whole other commitment and I commend her for taking on the awesome challenge!
I’ve made a few raw dishes in the past that tasted rather bland or seemed like too much effort. This recipe is different because it’s super easy and doesn’t require a whole lot of fancy equipment or ingredients (unless you don’t normally use miso paste and nutritional yeast – and they’re both optional anyway).
I guess the inspiration for this came from the Best Ever Vegan Mac & Cheese recipe, and I tried to keep the ingredients as simple as possible. Like I said above, the miso and nutritional yeast are optional and while they may not be technically 100% raw, they do add a sweet/nutty/cheesy flavor that I love and just had to include.
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One small zucchini (courgette) makes enough noodles to fill the small bowl in the pictures. You’ll probably want to use 2 zucchinis per person for a full-sized serving, and that’s what I’ve listed in the recipe below.
- 4 small zucchinis
- 1 cup raw cashews, soaked in water for 20 minutes and drained
- ¾ cup water
- 1 tbsp lemon juice
- ¼ tsp nutmeg
- 1 tsp thyme
- 2 garlic cloves
- salt & pepper, to taste
- 1 tbsp light miso paste (optional – look for unpasteurized miso to make this 100% raw)
- 2 tbsp nutritional yeast (optional)
- Using a vegetable peeler, remove the skin from the zucchinis and discard. Starting from one end of the zucchini, peel a long ribbon of flesh down to the other end of the zucchini. Turn the zucchini and repeat this step around the entire zucchini, until the core is so small that it is difficult to peel. Repeat this step for the other zucchinis.
- Combine the remaining ingredients in a food processor and blend until smooth.
- Place half of the zucchini noodles in a serving bowl and gently stir half the sauce through it. Repeat for the remaining noodles and sauce. Serve with a sprinkle of fresh basil or parsley.
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Oh, and the zucchini noodles are also really good with fresh pesto too!
Think i’ll have to make this on the weekend – yumm!!! thanks honey xx
You’re so very welcome! I wasn’t sure whether or not you had done the “veggie noodle” thing and/or the “cashew Alfredo” thing but this one of my favorites because it’s so easy and fresh :)
oh – and i’ve not learnt that the official term that rawists use for “soaking” nuts/seeds, etc is to “activate” the nut/seed
this site has a nice explanation of why you should activate nuts – http://www.purewellbeing.com/contents/en-uk/d142_Activated_Nuts.html
The yummiest thing is to activate the nuts, then dehydrate them to go crunchy again – all the crunch you know and love, but gentler on the body
Great article – thanks! I was already planning to buy a dehydrator when we get back to Canada. Sounds like this is another great reason to do so! :)
the alfredo sauce looks like it has a creamy but light texture. it certainly looks delicious and the perfect meal for when the weather is 100 degrees!
Hi Caitlin – Odd, your comment got caught by my spam filter. Thanks so much for your comment! :)
Angela, this looks fantastic! Thanks for sharing the recipe and the beautiful photos (as usual). :-)
Hi Laura – Thanks so much for your comment and kind words :)
Wow–this looks amazing! I’ve been wanting to incorporate more raw food into my life and this one is a great start. I love these ingredients–thanks!!
Thanks so much – let me know if you try it and what you think! :)
Thank you Vegangela for another great article and more wonderful pictures. I am so watching the garden grow and waiting to pull the first organic harvest of the year. This will be one of the first recipes to go onto our plate. Thanks!
Hi Brian, Thanks so much for your kind words and taking the time to comment. This would be SO good with garden-fresh veggies. Would love to hear your feedback on this when you make it :)
Hi Angela! I just found your blog and as a vegetarian trying to transition into veganism, all of your recipes look so amazing, and I have yet to see one I wouldn’t absolutely love to make! Thank you for sharing your recipes and stories, and I can’t wait to read more of your posts!
Hi Faith! Thanks so much for your kind words, I really appreciate it! I only post the recipes that I really love – and I use my website as my own personal cookbook because many of them are recipes that I make all the time.
Congratulations on your decision to “take it to the next level”. Going vegetarian was really easy for me – but veganism was tougher because so many things contain dairy… and so many really good vegetarian dishes contain cheese. But it’s a lot easier these days with all the cheese substitutes out there – and as you see above, cashews and other nuts can be a great replacement too. Feel feel to drop me a line if you have any questions! :)
Hi, Angela:
I made this recipe and LOVED it! So did the rest of the fam. I think zucchini makes ideal noodles. I posted my results: http://epicureanvegan.com/2011/07/25/raw-alfredo-with-zuchini-noodles-from-vegangela/
Thanks again!
Hi! I’m so glad to hear that everyone liked it! Aren’t zucchini noodles the best? You can eat a big bowl without any guilt. Going to check out your blog now – thanks!
Couldn’t agree more – noodles are good, but now I can eat a bowl of veggie noodles without any guilt whatsoever… seconds please :)
That recipe looks so amazing – the perfect simple dish to make on a hot summer night. Thanks so much!
Hi Jen – Thanks for your comment!
BTW Ang, I’ve just found out that nutritional yeast isn’t raw :( I was going to make it with some, but alas…. doesn’t matter too much, as it still tastes yummy without it
Yes I know and mentioned that in the notes but a lot of raw foodies make an exception for it… totally up to you and yes, still good without it :)
Also – I used one of these – they are great little investment – https://www.itvsn.com.au/products/itvsn/15/156444/156444a1.jpg
I have a similar peeler – this one looks electric though. Is it?
Unfortunately not – all manual
Angela,
What type of miso paste do you normally use? I see a lot of recipes that call for “miso paste” but when I get to the health food store there are MANY options and I get perplexed and give up because the stuff is just a little pricey and I don’t want to get the wrong one, and maybe there isn’t a “wrong” one. Would you mind helping me out?
Thanks,
Tricia
PS – making the raw zucchini noodles tonight (at my 5 year old’s request, although I will probably have to warm his – he loved the picture, but usually won’t eat “cold” noodles). I am leaving out the miso paste tonight because I don’t have time to shop before dinner!
Thanks a bunch (again!)
Hi Tricia – That’s a good question! I only started using miso paste myself in the last couple years or so. For this recipe, I indicated “light miso paste” – so I used white miso… which is actually more of a caramel color. There’s also the really dark miso paste, but I think that would be too strong for this and would also change the color of the sauce. The miso imparts a cheesy/fermented flavor to things. If you’ve never really used miso before, I would just buy the lightest one you can find as it’s more versatile for other dishes. Let me know how your little one liked this. It should be fine without the miso and I’m curious to know how it tastes when heated-up!
Thanks, Angela! Sorry it took me so long to post again. My kids LOVED it and it tasted really good heated up. I didn’t heat it for long, just long enough to take the “chill” off. They ate a whole bowl of it.
Thanks so much for the miso help. I will buy a light one!!
Tricia
Hi Tricia! Thanks so much for the feedback. I’m so glad to hear that you and your kids loved it so much. What a great way to eat your veggies, right? I heated it up a little bit the other day and loved it too.
Can’t wait to hear what you do with the miso!
Thanks again for all the support and keep in touch!
Mmmmm – - looks super yummy. I make zucchini noodles sometimes, too, but usually just with fresh tomato sauce and herbs. I have this funny machine from Amazon called a “spirali” that makes curly ribbon noodles from zucchini or other veggies. It’s kind of a gimmick, but I find it entertaining! :)
Hi Emily – Let me know if you try the Alfredo, it seems more decadent for me so it kind of makes up for the veggie noodles :) I really want a Spirali, they look so awesome!
Hi! Thanks so much for this delicious recipe. I just made this for dinner and it was fantastic!!! I skipped the Miso because I didn’t have any. I also added broccoli to my zucchini noodles. Very good! I will make this often for sure!
Glad you liked it. Good idea with the broccoli!
Wow! This looks delicious, I can’t wait to make this for my family. Could you heat the “noodles”, if so would you suggest stove top? Oven?
Absolutely! Here’s another recipe that uses zucchini noodles, but they’re heated. You can use the same method, but toss the Alfredo sauce in at the end. Good luck!
Just wanted to tell you that your recipes “hit the nail on the head” for what I love to eat. I’ve just recently gone vegan in order to lose weight and I have missed the rich, savoury foods. Your recipes sound so delish! Can’t wait to try them-especially the ones with nutritional yeast. Never had it, but it sounds really good.
Thank again!
Jon
PS I “invented” horseradish hummus last night and it is so good! Not bland like all the other hummus.
Hi Jon, Thanks for stopping by and for the kind words :) Horseradish hummus sounds awesome!
Wow!! Only been doing the raw thing for a few weeks now, but been vegan for 8 yrs. Holy Moly this sauce is good!!! I hardly remember what dairy Alfredo tastes like, but I think I like yours waaay better! Seriously give thanks! This is definitely my new favorite raw recipe.
If anyone’s interested i only had dark (red) miso at home so I used about 1/2 a T. and I had a handful of raw sunflower seeds I wanted to use up. so I soaked those and threw them in too. Yum! Give Thanks!!
Yum! Thanks for trying my recipe and taking the time to comment :)
This recipe is awesome. I wanted to mention that it’s particularly great with kelp noodles. I rinse the kelp noodles and then marinate them in the alfredo overnight in the fridge. The noodles become soft and absolutely delicious. I just take it out of the fridge an hour before I want to eat it so that it comes back to room temperature. A+
That’s a GREAT tip! I will seek-out kelp noodles!
Made this for the family tonight as we are transitioning to mostly raw. My husband and I really liked it even without the miso. Kids are used to crunchy “noodles” but they liked the flavor. I did warm it a tad by warming the glass container on the stove top but never let it get hot. I’m finding this transition to be rather difficult with the kids so I really, really appreciate the raw food recipes that I can actually find the ingredients for! THANKS!
You’re so welcome! Thanks for taking the time to comment. I’m happy to hear that the whole family enjoyed it :)
Too bad cashews are not raw, if they were they’d leave a chemical burn on your lips similar to battery acid like I experienced in the Peruvian Amazon. Just thought you should know, have any alternative nut ideas? Hello from Lima Peru!
-Dan the Vancouverite
I think you’re referring to wild cashews (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wild_Cashew). Like wild almonds, they can be poisonous. Domesticated almonds and cashews (the ones we buy in stores) are fine.