Feeling Saucey?

My favorites from sauce class. These recipes provide a nice "classic" and "healthy alternative" foil to each other. Both work well on seafood, poultry or vegetables.

Herb-Butter and Olive Oil Sauce
A classic butter sauce that's a great way to make a simple sauce with any variety of herbs, just follow the approx. amounts below. Use good quality organic butter for healthy fats.

Ingredients
¼ cup parsley
½ bunch chives
1 Tbs tarragon
1 clove garlic
salt
2 Tbs capers, rinsed
1 tsp lemon zest
1 shallot, minced
5 Tbs butter, at room temperature
3 Tbs olive oil
fresh lemon juice

Procedure
1 Blanch the herbs for 1 minute in a cup or so of boiling water, then drain in a fine strainer and blot dry. Finely chop the herbs.

2 Pound the garlic and ¼ teaspoon salt in a mortar to a paste. In a bowl, beat together the herbs, garlic paste, capers, lemon zest, shallot, and butter with a wooden spoon, then gradually mix in the olive oil. Taste and season with a pinch of salt and lemon juice to taste.

Yield: 0.5 cup
Author: From "Vegetarian Cooking for Everyone" by Deborah Madison


Nut and Seed Cream Sauce
This contemporary cream sauce is made with nuts and seeds instead of dairy. Add more nutritional yeast to make an alternative to cheese sauce. I couldn't stop going back for this, as odd as it may seem at first glance.

Ingredients
½ cup cashews
½ cup macadamia nuts
¼ cup lemon juice
2 Tbs nutritional yeast
2 Tbs sesame seeds
1 Tbs onion powder
1 ½ tsp salt
1 tsp garlic powder
⅛ tsp celery seed
1 ½ cups water
¼ cup sunflower oil
white pepper, to taste

Procedure
1 Add all the ingredients, except for the oil, to a blender and puree until smooth. With the motor still on, drizzle in the oil.

2 Transfer to a saucepan and simmer for about 10 minutes, until thickened. Season with white pepper to taste. Adjust seasoning if necessary.

Author: Adapted from Bianca Hastings, Natural Chef Graduate