Originally Posted by cooker

I don't think so. What evens out your torque is not the clips or cleats, it's your brain and legs learning to pedal smoothly so that each leg complements the other. In the hypothetical diagram below you can see that even if you let your leg go somewhat limp on the upstoke, so that the other leg is both propelling the bike and lifting the opposite leg, you could have steady torque as long as the total effort of both legs adds up to the same number at every point around the pedal stroke.