Vegan Mac 'n Cheese

What are the pros and cons to a delicious night of Mac ‘n Cheese? 

The Pros first:

It’s creamy and gooey and let’s face it, the ultimate comfort food.  It just makes you feel good.

It’s a crowd pleaser.  Who doesn’t want lots of starchy pasta, smothered in sauce??  Only crazy people, that’s who!

It fills you up.  You know once you’ve had a big bowl of all that deliciousness there is nothing more to do than collapse onto the couch while it sits in your oh so satisfied tummy! (Of course, you won’t be doing anything else.  Once you hit those cushions, get comfy.  You’re going to be there awhile.)

The Cons:

If you make it from scratch (& for that ultimate comfort food feel – you have to), it takes awhile.  The best mac ‘n cheese is baked in the oven.

It’s loaded with fat, cholesterol, carbohydrate, and calories.  Isn’t that always the way… All the things that make it the ultimate comfort food are the same things that make it that much harder to fit into your jeans.

It’s much much much too easy to overeat.  It’s just so good – how do you stop??  Well, often we don’t, and therein lies the problem.

Leftovers are pretty gross. 

 

So this week, I’m going to take this old favorite and make it over in a healthy, but still tasty, way.  Also, we are going to make it in a quick and convenient eliminating the time factor con.  This will be the first of (I hope) many vegetarian (more specifically vegan) recipes.  I’ll be trying this out for a couple of months to see if the elimination of animal products from my diet in combination with clean eating will help lower my cholesterol levels.  I’ll report back when I get my blood work done for my diabetes panel in June.  My current level is 207. 

 

Vegan means no animal products so no cheese, no milk, no cream. 

And I want to make mac ‘n cheese.

 

Well, crap.

 

Just kidding.  Don’t be discouraged – with a little creativity – it can be done.  (Where’s my winking smiley?  I meant to put it right here.  Oh well, you get the idea.)  It’s all about substituting the right ingredients.

 

First  of all – the whole “cheesy” flavor – you’re never going to be able to imitate that.  At least, not really.  That’s why macaroni from a box with a powder packet tastes somewhat like the cardboard from whence it sprang.  However, you can use something called nutritional yeast.  Nutritional yeast is inactive, dried yeast, and it can somewhat imitate that “cheddary” flavor.  Mostly, I like the almost salty taste that it has, without having sodium added to it.  We’ll be using this to make our “cheese” sauce.

 

Second – I chose a vegetable based pasta.  Why?  To be honest – I thought the color was cool.  Also, I think it’s much lighter tasting that whole wheat pasta.  But that’s just my opinion, use the pasta of your choice here.

 

Hello my good friend, Mr. Soy…

That’s right.  Soy products are a good replacement for dairy.  In this recipe I used Tofutti brand soy replacements for sour cream and cream cheese.  They were very good.  They didn’t have that pungent soy taste that you can sometimes have with tofu.  They with the right consistency, and best of all – they reheat  FANTASTICALLY in leftovers.  Something regular mac is sadly without.

 

My secret ingredient – BROWNING SAUCE!

 

This is inexpensive & delicious.  It makes fantastic gravy, and for you meat-lovers out there – it really enhances a roast or T-bone.  The key here is USE IT SPARINGLY.  When I say a few drops, I mean, just a few drops.  A little goes a long way with this one.

This recipe serves only 2. Just double or triple, multiply the ingredients as needed to make the quantity you prefer. Cooking times remains the same regardless.

The pasta I chose has puréed carrots in it, so it looked this bright orange color once cooked. It also tasted much better to me than plain whole wheat pasta. I felt it was less dense & had a slightly sweeter flavor.

1 tbsp tofutti cream cheese substitute 

2 tbsp tofutti sour cream substitute 

1 tbsp coconut cream

1 tbsp nutritional yeast

Dash of paprika

4 drops browning sauce

Dash of garlic powder

Splash of Worcestershire sauce

Pinch of salt

1 tsp extra virgin olive oil

1/2 cup dry whole grain pasta

2 tbsp diced onion

A dab of gourmet mustard (Dijon or something like it)

Cook pasta. 

Meanwhile sauté onion in 1/2 tsp olive oil.

In a bowl combine tofutti (both kinds), coconut cream, yeast, spices (not salt), mustard, Worcestershire sauce, & browning sauce.

Once pasta is cooked, drain well & coat with 1/2 tsp olive oil & dash of salt.

Add cheese mixture & mix well.

  

Ready in about 15 minutes tops :-)