Vegan Mac N "Cheese"

If you read my old blog then you know that Matt and I love mac n' cheese. One day I stumbled upon a Mac N Cheese of the Month Club and realized all the possible varieties we could try. Rather than pay way too much for the club, I periodically try a new recipe. I'm hoping that one day we can meld together our favorite recipes to create our own signature Hoag Mac n Cheese.


So when I came across a a vegan recipe I thought, heck, why not!? I'm a very curious person and this was such an interesting concept that I couldn't resist whipping it up! Plus I'm lactose intolerant (though I still eat cheese and take my chances with an upset stomach, it is just to good to give up!) so a vegan recipe also means a non-dairy recipe!

I felt fairly skeptical that a recipe without any cheese couldn't possibly taste like cheese. I even promised Matt that I'd got get takeout of his choosing if it was gross. I think he had already figured out where to go and what to order before I even got started with the recipe! But I forged ahead and about halfway through the steps I was in total awe. I frantically called Matt into the kitchen to take a look. I blended all the ingredients together to make the "cheese" sauce and as soon as I pulled the blender lid off I got a whiff of "cheese" and it sure looked the right orangish-yellow color! Amazing. And for the record, Matt agreed.

Here it is before adding breadcrumbs and before baking. Looks cheesy, right?

After baking and eating some. Yum!

And all served up.

I keep telling people about the amazing vegan mac n cheese, hopefully I'm not singing it's praises too high. But it really is good! And the leftovers were good too. And again, for the record, Matt agrees!

You can follow the recipe over at Veg News or take these steps with my (picky eater) variations noted:
Ingredients:

• 1 tablespoon sea salt
• 8 ounces macaroni (I used the small noodles but actually prefer the big elbows)
• 4 slices of bread, grated into bread crumbs or torn into pieces
• 2 tablespoons + 1/3 cup non-hydrogenated margarine (since we aren't vegan, I just used the butter we had on hand)
• 2 tablespoons shallots, peeled and chopped (we aren't fans so I omitted)
• 1 cup red potatoes, peeled and chopped
• 1/4 cup carrots, peeled and chopped
• 1/3 cup onion, peeled and chopped (we aren't fans so I omitted)
• 1 cup reserved cooking water
• 1/4 cup raw cashews
• 2 teaspoons sea salt
• 1/4 teaspoon garlic, minced
• 1/4 teaspoon Dijon mustard
• 1 tablespoon lemon juice
• 1/4 teaspoon black pepper
• 1/8 teaspoon cayenne
• 1/4 teaspoon paprika

Directions

1. Cook macaroni al dente following the box directions. Drain pasta and rinse with cold water. Set aside.
2. In a food processor make breadcrumbs by pulverizing the bread and 2 tablespoons margarine to a medium-fine texture. In our case, we used a cheese grater and then added the margarine afterwards,
3. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. In a saucepan, add shallots, potatoes, carrots, onion, and water, and bring to a boil. Cover and simmer for 15 minutes, or until vegetables are very soft.
4. In a blender, process the cashews, salt, garlic, 1/3 cup margarine, mustard, lemon juice, black pepper, and cayenne. Add softened vegetables and cooking water to the blender and process until perfectly smooth.
5. In a large bowl, toss the pasta and cheese sauce until 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.
6. Enjoy!