Creamy Vegan Mac 'n' Cheeze

Ever since I saw this post over at Eat Me Delicious, I've wanted to make vegan cheeze sauce. The vegan pumpkin macaroni and cheeze didn't make the cut for blog posting -- it just wasn't enjoyed enough my Ashley. But it looked sooooo delicious.

I've been on a vegan kick lately. I don't know if it's our latest addiction to vegan burritos (or in my case, burrito rice bowls!) or what... but I've been exploring vegan cooking and baking a lot more. During March break, I made a list of things I wanted to cook before the summer, and first on the list was vegan mac 'n' cheeze. I was never a child that grew up on boxed Kraft dinner -- it was a rare, rare sight growing up in my parents' home. It was Chinese home cooked dinners pretty much every night, and I have a Mom who hates cheese, so KD is not a childhood memory of mine.


I have made macaroni and cheese before -- and it was lovely. Creamy, and cheesy and comforting. But would a vegan version be the same? I did a little internet research and found that recipes for vegan cheese sauces could really be categorized into three categories: heavy on the nutritional yeast (like 1/2 cups worth) and thickened with cornstarch, sometimes helped with the addition of miso, squash-based sauces like the one Ashely tried, and nut or seed-based sauces (I'm not counting the ones that call for vegan daiya cheese -- that's pretty much a straight substitution). The recipes that I found the most interesting were over the Post Punk Kitchen, where Isa makes Mac and Shews (that cashews!) and Sunflower Mac. Both lovely-sounding but I didn't have enough sunflower seeds or any nuts and I kind of wanted a lower fat version.

Instead, I took the Sunflower Mac recipe and tweaked it, replacing the blended, soaked sunflower seeds with cooked red lentils. It worked quite nicely. Red lentils are so quick cooking, and if you add a little extra water and cook it an extra few minutes, they melt down into nothing, leaving a nice creamy sauce-like texture. Perfect! I got help from an immersion blender, some smoked paprika, a splash of soy sauce and a good helping of nutritional yeast. It was creamy and comforting and perfect served with macaroni and greens. Next time, I'll add a little bit of mustard or a squeeze of lemon juice to perk it up a bit and give it a "cheesy" tang.




I'm definitely making this again, and you should too! It's relatively quick, and the only special ingredient is the nutritional yeast, which is easy to find in health food and bulk stores. Does it taste like cheese? No. I don't think anything tastes quite like cheese, but it's good in its own right. Go try! Happy veganing!

Creamy Vegan Macaroni with Greens
inspired by Post Punk Kitchen
serves 2-3

2 cups of dried pasta
1 bunch of greens -- any kind you like; I used kale

1/2 medium onion, diced
2 cloves of garlic, minced
1/4 teaspoon of smoked paprika
1 tablespoon of olive oil
1/4 cup of red lentils, rinsed
3/4 cup of water
1/2 cup of vegetable stock
3 tablespoons of nutritional yeast
1 teaspoon of cornstarch
1 teaspoon of light soy sauce
lots of fresh cracked black pepper

1. Cook your pasta according to the package directions. When it's almost done, throw in your greens and cook until tender. Drain and set aside.

2. In a medium sized pots, heat the olive oil, and add in the onions and garlic. Cook for a few minutes or until things get translucent and fragrant. Add in the paprika, lentils and water. Bring to a boil. Turn the heat down to a simmer and cook, covered for 20 minutes, or until the lentils and broken down. Check every so often, and add water if necessary.

3. When the lentils are creamy and saucy, turn off the heat and add the vegetable broth. Blend using an immersion blender until you get a nice sauce-like consistency. Turn the heat back on to medium.

4. Dissolve the cornstarch in a little water or broth and add to the sauce. Also add in your nutritional yeast and soy sauce. Bring the sauce back up to a boil and cook for a minute to allow the cornstarch to thicken it a little.

5. Add your pasta and greens to the sauce and mix well. Add in the pepper. Serve immediately.

Soupy, Saucy Macaroni

Yeah, yeah, I know a post about macaroni right after holiday baking is a bit of a let down. I know. But follow me on this one. I know I should be wiring about eggnog cheesecake squares and butter basted turkey, but just to tell you the truth, holiday cooking scares me just a touch. I know .. I just wrote about how I love baking for the holidays. So I'm a total flake, I admit it.

Anyway, if you haven't stopped reading yet, let me share with you a very simple, but delicious and comforting meal that feels good going down and will keep you fueled and charged whether it's to get through the holiday rush, or to stay up later on January 2nd when you've realized that all the work you brought home to do over the holidays has just sat in your bag untouched since December 17th. Right...


We had this meal right around the start of the holidays when we needed something yummy, healthy and comforting to have on a cold night. I had plans for lots of holiday baking and making homemade decorations. In short, I needed to be energized, and this dish did just that. It's not a cheesy, rich, baked macaroni dish. Quite the contrary. The macaroni bakes in a very brothy, light tomato and vegetable mixture and is topped with crispy breadcrumbs and a sprinkle of grated mozzarella. The secret here is homemade vegetable stock and a little patience. It's not fancy or authentic. In fact, the macaroni isn't even "el dente" -- its slightly overcooked because it's been baked in the soupy sauce, but don't let that fool you. It's comforting, delicious and a tradition in the making. I think I'll make it a tradition to have this baked macaroni dish on the first day of my holidays. Yes! Tradition set.

Brothy Macaroni and Veggies

1 cup of uncooked macaroni
1 tablespoon of olive oil
1 small onion, diced
1 clove of garlic, minced
1 small carrot, diced
1 stalk of celery, diced
3-4 ripe tomatoes, roughly chopped (or you could you a small can on tomatoes)
salt and pepper to taste
1 small sprig of thyme (or use 1/2 teaspoon of dried)
3-4 basil leaves, chopped (or use 1/2 teaspoon of dried)
2 cups of vegetable broth
1 tablespoon of breadcrumbs
a bit of grated mozzarella cheese

1. Cook the macaroni in boiling, salted water until almost tender. Drain and set aside.

2. In an oven proof pot, sweat the onions and garlic until soft and fragrant. If you're using dried herbs, add them now. Add the carrots and celery and cook for about 5 minutes,

3. Add the tomatoes and season with salt and pepper. Cook for another 5-7 minutes, or until the tomatoes break down and the juices start getting sticky. Add the broth and give it a good stir, making sure to pick up all the yummy bits that may of gotten stuck to the pot. If you're using fresh herbs, add them now.

4. Bring the mixture to a boil, and then simmer until the liquid has a reduced a little. Add in the macaroni. Sprinkle with breadcrumbs and cheese and bake in a 350 degree oven until the top is nice and golden brown and the liquid has further reduced.

5. Remove from the oven and serve.

Mid-Week Quickies

Ok, so get your mind out of the gutter! I don't mean a quickie like that ... although ... ok! Focus. I meant that's it's the middle of the week and it's busy, but I have just enough time to share two recipes with you in one quick post. So here goes!

First, I'm proud to say that I made a bechamel sauce all by myself for the very first time! And it wasn't that hard! And oh my, was it delicious. I was even brave enough to make a few substitutions to this wonderful recipe at Everybody Likes Sandwiches. Basically, it's a macaroni and cheese recipe with fresh spring vegetables thrown in along with the summery zing of lemon juice and lemon zest. It was a perfect supper, and easy enough for me to put together in the middle of the week. I made a few little substitutions: I used parsley instead of oregano and broccoli instead of spinach, I used a combination of milk and homemade vegetable stock instead of just milk and I used olive oil instead of butter. What's the trick? Whisking... constantly! This helps to prevent lumps from forming when you stir in the liquids to the flour/oil mixture. I also used a really nice applewood smoked cheddar, so the cheese sauce had an extra little kick. The recipe is really easy to follow and even I couldn't screw it up. I definitely recommend you make this -- even if you're not into creamy sauces, because this sauce is far from those goppy, heavy, alfredo sauces that give my stomach nightmares. It's creamy, but light and fresh and oh so easy to make. PLEASE try it!


Wow! That was quick! One more quick one: yummy raspberry crumble muffins. I made these last Thursday and they stayed amazingly fresh and delicious all weekend -- fresh enough to give as treats to friends. They're sweet, fruity, lemony, very moist and almost healthy -- I made some substitutions to cut back on the amount of fat and sugar and they still came out amazing. The crumble topping is unique -- I used chopping roasted almonds which gave it a lovey deep flavour as well as a little crunch factor. Even though this recipe requires more than one bowl, I'd still say that it's a contender for mid-week baking.

Raspberry Crumble Muffins
(adapted from "Cookies" p. 398 - by Catherine Atkinson, Joanna Farrow and Valerie Barrett.)

Crumble Topping

1/2 cup of chopped almonds
3 tablespoons of melted butter
3 tablespoons of whole wheat flour
1/4 cup of brown sugar

Muffins

1 1/2 cups of all purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon of baking powder
1/2 teaspoon of cinnamon
3 tablespoons of brown sugar
1/4 cup of honey (I used a fragrant wildflower honey)
1/4 cup of canola oil
1/4 cup of skim milk yogurt
1/2 cup of skim milk
1 egg
juice and zest of half a lemon
1 1/3 cups of fresh raspberries

1. Make the crumble by combining all the ingredients and mixing gently until you get a crumbly, sandy texture. Set aside.

2. In a large mixing bowl mix together the egg, brown sugar, canola oil, honey, yogurt, milk, lemon juice and zest. Give it a good big mix to make sure everything is combined.

3. In a smaller bowl, sift together the flour, baking powder and cinnamon.

4. Add the dry ingredients to the wet mixture in three stages, mixing only until it's combined. Add in the the raspberries and give it a final mix.

5. Spoon the batter into muffin tins (I made 24 minis!) and top with the crumble topping.

6. Bake in a 350 degree oven for about 25 minutes or until a cake tested inserted comes out clean. Don't forget to share them with your friends.