Wednesday, January 5, 2011

Vegan Mac n' Cheese


There are only a few things I love more than comfort food (including my husband, my family, my bed, a good run, peanut butter and my mom-mom's house in NJ) . My old nickname used to be "The Carb Queen." If my family and I went out to dinner, I would always order chicken fingers and two sides. Guess what they were? French fries and mashed potatoes (for my vegetable of course)! Thankfully I have grown out of this phase (after growing out of my pants) and no longer eat as many carbs at each meal. However I can always go for some good ol' comfort food. Thankfully, Angela at Oh She Glows shared her recipe for vegan mac and cheese that I have been eyeballing for a few weeks now. Not only is it much healthier than regular mac and cheese, but completely vegan. I bet you'll be surprised with the ingredients used to make it "cheesy"...

Ingredients:
  • medium potato, peeled and cubed
  • 1/2 large carrot, peeled and cut
  • 1 small onion, peeled and chopped
  • 1.5 cup of raw cashews
  • 1 cup unsweetened almond milk
  • 2 garlic cloves
  • 5 tbsp lemon juice
  • 3 teaspoons salt
  • 2 tbsp nutritional yeast
  • 1 tsp mustard
  • 3/4 bag of pasta
  • 1 slice of bread
  • 1 tbsp earth balance
  • pepper to garnish
First, chop up your veggies! I had some carrot strips left over from last week's stir fry so decided to just use those instead of chopping a large one. Either way works.


After chopping, place on stove top and boil for about 15 minutes until they are soft.


While these are boiling, you can place 1 piece of bread and the tbsp of butter into the food processor and process until it looks something like this:


Start gathering your other ingredients so that you can process them before the veggies are completely boiled.


Process the cashews first (for about 2 minutes). Then, add the rest of the ingredients, and it will look somewhat like this. I have to admit, I was a little worried with how "runny" this looked, but after adding the vegetables on the next step it becomes much thicker, like a sauce.


Just like Angela from Oh She Glows said...the carrots add an orange color to the sauce which makes it seem even more like cheese! After processing the above ingredients, add in the vegetables that you boiled (they should be soft after 15 minutes). Process well. Meanwhile, make sure you boil the pasta! Add the sauce to the pasta in a large bowl and mix well.


Place in a medium sized casserole dish and sprinkle with the breadcrumbs you made earlier. Heat the oven to 350 degrees and bake for about 30 minutes or until browned.


After 30 minutes, you have a vegan and much healthier mac n' cheese dish to serve to kids or adults! It is filled with healthy fats, vegetables and fiber. And, it tastes awesome-I was pleasantly surprised :)


Even if you are not a vegan, this is a fun and somewhat easy recipe to try. It's worth it! Another big thank you to Angela at Oh She Glows for another tasty and healthy recipe. If you don't know what to make for lunch or dinner one day, go to her website...you're bound to find something!

Jeff is working tonight and tomorrow so I am have a girls night with Lauren Zietsman where we will be eating the rest of this along with a recipe she is making from Angela's website (I believe Lentil Meatloaf)! And of course girlie movies will be watched...I can't wait!


4 comments:

Cathy B. @ Brightbakes said... Best Blogger Tips

pretty pictures! I could handle some of this mac n cheese for lunch, no problem :) Just found your blog via TK and Im lovin it.
cheers!
cathy b. @ brightbakes

Unknown said... Best Blogger Tips

Love that idea. I forsure need to try it.

Melissa said... Best Blogger Tips

Love the new layout thats going on!

Kathy said... Best Blogger Tips

I just made this, and it's delicious! As a matter of fact, I'm eating some right now. I will surely make this again, rather than non-vegan mac 'n cheese :)

-Kathy from http://cupcakes-music-fashion.blogspot.com/

 
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