A vegan bechamel sauce with added fibre from hidden beans. No oil and no margarine!
Hola!
Today I bring you my plant-based version of a bechamel sauce with added fibre from beans! Beans are so good for you that you should try to eat them in every single meal. You heard me! I’ll go into detail below, but beans don’t only make it healthier but they bring some nuttiness into this otherwise plain sauce and they make it creamier. You can use this bechamel sauce for pasta dishes, , for my vegan stuffed aubergines, my vegan mushroom Bolognese lasagne, my vegan creamy cannelloni … You name it!
Bechamel sauce, also known as white sauce in the UK, is a staple of the Italian and French cuisine, being its origin disputed by both. There were other versions of white sauce in the past, but it is thought that it was improved in the 17th century by a French court chef of King Louis XIV, called François Pierre de la Varenne. He named the sauce after Louis de Béchameil, as it was a la mode paying homage to the nobles in this way.
PLANT POWER, MAKE UP!
I thought if I blended some beans in, I would not only make it healthier, but it would make it thicker. It didn’t thicken as much as I would have liked, so I ended up adding the cornflour.
Beans are high in protein and iron like meat, but they contain additional benefits such as potassium, folate, fibre and phytates. Legumes consumption has been linked to cancer prevention, they regulate levels of cholesterol, sugar and insulin in blood, they’re associated with reducing body weight and lowering blood pressure. Do you need any more? Eating legumes is important and you can always find ways to incorporate them into your diet, like this bean bechamel sauce. If legumes make you pass gas, that is because you don’t eat enough of them (unless you have any other health issues). The flatulence should improve if you add them little by little into your diet and you will develop a healthy microbiome that will protect you from other diseases. Feed your friendly gut bacteria and they will have your back!
VEGAN BEAN BECHAMEL SAUCE
Makes: 2 cups sauce
Prep: 5 min
Cook: 15 minutes
INGREDIENTS
4 cup unsweetened soya milk
4 tbsp. cornflour
2x 400g butter beans can, drained
1 veggie stock cube
1/2 tsp. garlic granules
1/2 tsp. onion granules
Salt and pepper
Nutmeg
INSTRUCTIONS
- In a saucepan, mix the soya milk with the cornflour and whisk to combine. Add the beans, stock cube, garlic granules and onion granules, and blend with a hand blender while heating up.
- Bring to a simmer and keep stirring until the thickness of choice.
- Season with salt and pepper and add a pinch of nutmeg.
You can keep it in an airtight container in the fridge for 5 days.
Bon profit!