Whole Wheat Rotini with Vegan "Alfredo", Mushrooms and Green Peppers

Sometimes I crave a dish that is reminiscent of something I would have eaten back in my dairy days. For times like these, the dairy/cheese substitutes come in very handy! Today was one of those days, so I decided to make a mock alfredo sauce using Better Than Cream Cheese and Daiya "cheese". My friend Diana made something similar a few weeks ago, so thanks Diana for the inspiration!

You will need:

3 cups of whole wheat rotini, or your favotite pasta
1/2 cup plain soy milk
1/4 water
1 TBSP plus 1 tsp Earth Balance
1 TBSP flour
1/4 cup Better Than Cream Cheese (plain, non-hydrogenated)
1/4 tsp sea salt
1/4 tsp pepper
1/2 tsp garlic granules
1/4 tsp onion powder
1/4 cup Daiya mozza

5 large mushrooms, sliced
1 green pepper, diced

Add pasta to boiling salted water, and cook until done.

Saute the mushrooms and green pepper in a pan with the 1 tsp of Earth Balance. Season with a dash of salt, pepper and garlic granules.

In the meantime, melt Earth Balace in a small or medium sauce pan. Add the flour to make a roux (pronounced "roo" in case you aren't familiar with it), which is a cooked mixture of a fat and flour, and acts as a thickening agent. Cook on medium for a few minutes, stirring continually. Next, add the plain soymilk and water. Whisk together. Now add the cream cheese, salt, pepper, garlic granules and onion powder. Continue whisking until you have a smooth mixture, and the sauce has come to a light boil. Once the mixture is smooth, add the Daiya "cheese", and stir until melted.

You can either spoon the sauce and veggies onto the pasta separately, or you can mix it all together in the pot you cooked the pasta in.  Eat as is, or top with vegan parmesan if you like. Enjoy! :)