Vegan Comfort Food

Well winter is officially here and it is insanely cold and MISERABLE outside. I hate it! In my attempt to look at life half full I decided to think of one thing I like about the cold. Nothing The first thing that came to mind was the fact that I can curl up on the couch with a blanket and some some serious comfort food during the cold winter months. The only issue with those traditional comfort foods is the excessive fat and calories combined with the lack of nourishment that leave me feeling guilty instead of satisfied. When it is already cold and depressing outside the last thing I want to is to feel  guilty. I needed to find a dish that will provide me with the nutrition I want AND the comfort I need. After some serious thinking and  recipe searching I finally was able to find something I could feel good about indulging in. With that said I present to you:

Vegan Macaroni and Cheese

Adapted from VegNews.Com

Ingredients:

1 lb whole wheat pasta

1 cup whole wheat panko bread crumbs

3 tablespoons olive oil or vegan margarine

1 small potato peeled and chopped or 2 cups cauliflower

2 large carrots peeled and chopped

1 small onion, peeled and chopped

1 ½ c plain unsweetened almond milk

1  cup raw cashews

2 teaspoons sea salt

3 large cloves of garlic

1 tbsp yellow mustard

1 tsp dried mustard

¼ c nutritional yeast

1 lemon juiced

1/2 teaspoon black pepper

1 teaspoon oregano

1 tsp basil

1/2 teaspoon paprika

Directions:

In a large pot, bring the water and salt to a boil. Add macaroni and cook until al dente. In a colander, drain pasta and rinse with cold water. Set aside.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. In a saucepan, add shallots, potatoes, carrots, onion, and water, and bring to a boil. Cover the pan and simmer for 15 minutes, or until vegetables are very soft.

In a blender or food processor, process the cashews until fine crumbs, add salt, garlic, oregano, basil, mustards, lemon juice, black pepper, and nutritional yeast. Add softened vegetables and almond milk to the blender and process until perfectly smooth.

In a large bowl, toss the cooked pasta and blended cheese sauce until completely coated. Spread mixture into a 9 x 12 casserole dish, sprinkle with prepared breadcrumbs, and dust with paprika. Bake for 30 minutes or until the cheese sauce is bubbling and the top has turned golden brown. Garnish with dried herbs and serve! Serves 8-10 “normal” people.

I settled on this dish as my comfort food of choice because #1 I am poor from the excessive amount of cooking I have been doing lately and already had all of the ingredients for this dish on  hand and #2 I LOVE MAC AND CHEESE <3 <3 <3 (who doesn’t)

First I prepared my mise en place.

Cashews went into the food processor and were processed into a fine crumb.

Followed by the rest of the ingredients for my “cheese sauce” I gave them a whirl.

The result.. YUM it tasted almost like a creamy, cheesy alfredo sauce which was soo delicious to lick straight off the spoon. While I was busy on  my sauce the vegetables had been simmering in a pot of water for about 12 minutes until they were just tender.

I added the drained veggies into the processor with the sauce and combined everything.

The sauce was a little thick so I ended up adding about 1/2 cup more of almond milk (maybe closer 3/4 c I didn’t really measure) but you want your sauce to look almost like a thick alfredo sauce (before the extra milk mine resembled hummus, not good).

The pasta was cooked about 9 minutes and dumped into a pan sprayed with olive oil cooking spray.

I combined the cooked noodles with the cheese sauce, restrained myself from eating the entire pan,

topped with bread crumbs, sprinkled with paprika, and popped the dish into a preheated 350 degree oven for about 35 minutes or until brown and bubbly (I like my top crispy crunchy)!

I served it with a mixed green salad  and was quite satisfied with my comfort meal. The top was crunchy the inside was rich and creamy and the vegetables, garlic, and spices gave the dish tons of great flavor. As I sat on the couch curled up with my blanket, holding my plate and watching the snow fall outside I decided maybe winter isn’t so bad.

Final product was a success Dutch even approved inhaling over half the dish of mac & cheese in one sitting and finishing off the rest for lunch today. Coming from the ultimate cheese lover that was quite a complement. I would say this recipe is a keeper. Sadly we only got to enjoy it for one day. Oh well we have a long winter ahead i’m sure there will be many more dishes like this in our future. Have a wonderful Monday!