Yumm! Bowls.

Time to come clean, guys.

I miss American food.

Not just the junk food, though, let me wax lyrical on the sparkling sweet goodness that is Dr Pepper; let me expound upon the virture of onion rings generously dipped in a salty, tangy ranch dressing; let me offer up gratuitous moans of longing at the thought of buying plain flavored Cheerios. (And don't even get me started on how much I miss Mexican food. My husband frowns on my addiction to Thai takeaway but honestly?! It's the closest thing there is, over here in Mexican Food Siberia.)

As I said, though, it's not just the junk food. I miss the food I remember. So my mom's plain and quick meals which are somehow exactly what I needed. I miss Umpqua Dairy ice cream and milk. I miss Mucho Gusto's burritos. And I miss, more than ANY OTHER FOOD ITEM IN THE WORLD, Yumm! Bowls.

Café Yumm! was the kind of place I started going to with many misgivings. Look, I'm not a real vegetarian. (Flexitarian, I think we're called.) I'm happier eating vegetarian food but I don't care much about eating meat. And even though I'm as red as a nosebleed politically, I've always shied away from the traditional "hippie food" on offer in my adopted hometown of Eugene. Because, seriously, why eat beans and rice in a bowl when you can just eat a burrito and it is like four hundred thousand times more amazing?

I was won over, however, by the sauce.

It's perfect. Tangy, lovely, creamy, just zippy enough to be moreish, and balanced enough to be a real meal. (There are the most hilarious reviews of Yumm! Sauce on Yelp where people are like omg u guyz there's like fat in this sauce! and then I smile to myself and sit confidently in the knowledge that there is no proof that a lower-fat diet actually does anything to mitigate heart disease, diabetes, or health problems related to obesity. For things to avoid in food, see: sugar.)

The problem with loving Yumm! Sauce is that I live in Food Siberia, and shipping it here is prohibitively expensive. We brought a jar back with us, and it was amazing; once my best friend shipped me a bottle. I could have given her my firstborn, I was so grateful! But it's not something I can expect every day, or week, or month, or even year. It's not feasible.

Luckily there are lots of people like me who live in other places, and those people have hacked the recipe. It's not the same, but it's a close approximation. I'm calling it Scrum Sauce. It's scrumptious, but not the same. Here is the recipe I used, adjusted for Australian ingredients.

Scrum Sauce

• 1/2 c water
• 1/2c lemon juice (two lemons, juiced)
• 1/2c canola oil
• 1/2c almond meal
• 1/3c nutritional yeast (found here as savory yeast flakes - DO NOT sub in brewer's yeast! it is not the same)
• 1/3c silken tofu (I used Macro Classic Tofu from Woolworths and it worked perfectly)
• 1-2 crushed garlic cloves
• 1/2tsp salt
• 1 tsp dried cilantro leaves (here called coriander)

Method:

I got my two pyrex glasses out and mixed the water and lemon juice together in one, and set the canola oil in another. In my food processor, I put everything else, blitzed it a few times, and then scraped the bowl. Then add the lemon/water in splashes, scraping between, until it's all a liquid. Once you do that, feed the lemon/water through as the machine runs, do a scrape-down, and put the lid back on. Add the oil the same way. I generally leave it for a minute to let it incorporate. It makes two cups of sauce.

The original recipe called for curry powder as well, but I omitted it. It didn't seem right for the sauce. Anyway, this is last night's effort.

Now, for the actual Yumm! Bowls:

• brown rice, cooked
• black beans, cooked
• sour cream
• salsa
• freshly chopped tomato
• sliced black spanish olives (here in Australia they come in a glass jar!)
• coriander/cilantro
• freshly sliced avocado

It's a good idea to make a big mess of black beans all at once, because they are hard to find tinned. Buy black beans, cook them according to packet directions (I added more water than beans, salt, set them to simmer and checked them every half hour for two and a bit hours, adding more water to keep them covered as needed). Then make a mess of brown rice.

The way you assemble them is to put the rice on one side, beans on the other, and a stripe of sauce down the middle. As much or as little as you want - it's really up to you. (Since you made it, you know what's in it, and you'll have tasted it, and will know how much you want!) Then add your toppings. And eat it.

And, I apologize. Because I just changed your life. You're welcome.

:)