Cheesy Sweet Potato Cauliflower Sauce

This past week has been a time of many quick and easy meals, as we just moved to the Portland area for my husband's new job, and most of my time has been spent looking for a home for us while we stay in temporary housing. I miss my stocked kitchen! But it is amazing what you can do with just a few ingredients. I needed something fast for dinner yesterday before we went to another house viewing, so I roasted some sweet potatoes and cauliflower during nap time and quickly whipped up this sauce. My kids were begging for pasta, so that is what we put it on, but I think it would also be good mixed with quinoa or rice.

It is always a bonus when I can sneak vegetables in like this, but I am proud to say that in our home that is becoming less necessary. Sawyer is eating more and more vegetables without me sneaking them in. The other week at the grocery store he picked up a cucumber and put it in the cart, declaring "Here, Mommy, we need this: I am trying new foods." And try it he did--and liked it! There is always hope, fellow moms of picky eaters, that they will come around.

1 large sweet potato, diced
1/2 large head cauliflower, chopped into small florets
2 Tbsp. extra-virgin olive oil
1/2 tsp. salt
1/4 tsp. pepper
1 tsp. dried thyme

1 can white beans, rinsed and drained (about 1 1/2 cup)
2 Tbsp. extra-virgin olive oil
2 Tbsp. nutritional yeast
1/3 cup Daiya mozzarella vegan cheese (or you could sub my homemade vegan cream cheese)
1/4-1/2 cup plain, non-dairy milk (enough to thin to your desired consistency)
additional salt and pepper, to taste

1. Preheat your oven to 400 degrees F and add diced sweet potatoes and cauliflower to a large glass baking pan.  Add oil, salt, pepper, and thyme, and stir to coat the veggies evenly.  Bake for 40-50 minutes, until the vegetables are very tender (cauliflower will be a bit browned), stirring half-way through.
2. Let the vegetables cool, and then add them to your food processor or blender along with the beans, additional olive oil, nutritional yeast, "cheese," and 1/4 cup non-dairy milk.  Add additional milk as necessary while blending the sauce in order to get a smooth consistency. Taste and add salt and pepper as desired. (I probably added another 1/2 tsp. salt and 1/4 tsp. pepper.) Serve over your favorite grain or pasta.

This recipe is linked to My Meatless Mondays, Slightly Indulgent Tuesdays, Allergy-Free Wednesdays, Whole Foods Wednesdays, Freaky Friday, Fit and Fabulous Friday, Frugal Days, Sustainable Ways, and Wellness Weekend.

Here are a few of our adventures over the past two weeks. We made a trip to the Getty Museum before we left California, where the kids seemed to enjoy the tram much more than the Klimt drawings.
 

Sawyer and Abiline dealt with the move quite well. They were just excited that they could have all kinds of rambunctious fun in our empty house as we packed things up.

On our way to Oregon, we stayed overnight in Redding, CA and got to ride on one of these fancy bikes. Redding is not known for its thrills to most people, but now--thanks to this magical half hour ride in which Anthony pretended to crash us into every wall on the hotel property--it's one of our kids' favorite vacation spots.