So my grocery has a selection of vegan “butter”s and “milk”s, and I bought some shelf-stable 8 oz boxes of NotMilk, which is not milk, but replicates the nutrition and behavior of cow’s milk. Yes, it really works!

I fried onions, red sweet peppers, and mushrooms, then put in a couple of tablespoons of vegan butter, then stirred in a couple tablespoons of plain flour and cooked that until it was glossy. Let’s see … salt, pepper, and Penzeys Tuscan Sunset herb blend. Finally, I bit the bullet and stirred in the NotMilk until I had a nice, thick sauce. It looked, acted, and tasted just like a sauce made with butter and whole cow’s milk.

Meanwhile, I boiled the gnocchi and wilted some tender fall kale and slapped it all together, topping it with vegan mozzarella.

O. MG. So good!

A WRITING PROMPT FROM ME TO YOU: A substitute as good as the original.

MA