(From Vita-Mix's "Whole Food Recipe" book)
This is surprisingly delicious! I was amazed at how much it looked and tasted like real cheese sauce. I don't even really like cheese sauce, it tastes so artificial to me, so this was much better to me. You can put it on macaroni, or use as a nacho sauce or dip, or anything else you can think up. :)
You pretty much need to have a Vita-Mix or Blendtech to make this sauce. I got this recipe from the recipe book that I got when I purchased my Vita-Mix (which is filled with great recipes like this one).
1 cup water
2 Tbsp lemon juice
1 large roasted red pepper*, peeled (or 1/4 cup canned pimientos)
1/2 cup raw almonds or cashews (I used almonds and it was great, cashews would probably be even better)
1 tsp onion powder (I used garlic powder instead and it was great)
1/4 cup nutritional yeast (or 2 Tbsp baking yeast- don't know how that would taste though)
2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp cayenne pepper (this isn't in the original recipe, but it's great if you like spicy nacho sauce)
1 1/2 cups boiling water
2 Tbsp potato starch mixed with 1/4 cup cold water (I didn't have it so I used cornstarch, and had to use a little extra to get it to thicken better)
Put everything into the blender in the order listed above, except don't add the boiling water or potato starch mixture yet. Start at low (Variable 1) and increase quickly to Variable 10, then to High. Keep on high for 5-6 minutes (or until you see steam coming out of the lid). Turn it down to Variable 7, take out the lid plug, and pour in the boiling water and cornstarch mixture. Keep blending until the sauce is thickened (1 minute or so).
*Note: I used a roasted red pepper, instead of canned pimientos. Here is a link with step by step pictured instructions on how to roast a red pepper: http://www.aspicyperspective.com/2013/02/roast-red-pepper.html
If you use a regular blender, I'm assuming the nuts won't completely blend up, and you won't be getting any heat as you blend. But if you really wanted to try it, you might try using boiling water to start (for the 1 cup water listed as the first ingredient), and somehow grind your nuts before putting them in (in a coffee grinder, masticating juicer that also grinds, or buy almond meal) or using creamy almond or cashew butter. Let me know if you do try it with a regular blender and how it turns out!
