Hi again friends!  Wow, two posts in one day!  That never happens here!  :)   If you missed it, check out the first post today about how time flies when you are unplugged, recapping the great time we had while MSP’s mom was visiting.

So as I’d mentioned previously, I finally tried making some Vegan Mac-n-Cheese.  In case you are new to FitFeat, I am not a vegan but I try to minimize (and completely avoid whenever possible) anything made from cow’s dairy.

I love a little comfort food every now and then, and one of my favorites is macaroni and cheese.  Most people these days know that eating a pasta made from refined white flour isn’t our best option, and we also know that boxed, processed food (like my old childhood favorite Kraft M & C in the blue box) is especially not a smart thing for our bodies.

I own a copy of The Kind Diet by Alicia Silverstone, love her book and her message, so I chose to head over to her site to look for a recipe to start with as my inspiration for a vegan mac-n-cheese.  You can click over to the original recipe if you’d like to try it as it’s written.  Because it is readily available on the internet, as opposed to in a book for purchase, I’ll list here the ingredients I used and how I went about making it since it’s a little different.

THE NOODLES:

  • 16 oz package brown rice elbow pasta (I use Tinkyada)
  • 1/8 to 1/4 cup Earth Balance soy free buttery spread (for use after noodles are cooked)

Brown rice pasta takes longer to cook than traditional pasta, around 17 minutes.  So start your noodles cooking, then go back to make your “cheese” sauce:

THE SAUCE:

  • 1 cup unsweetened almond milk
  • 1/4 cup light soy sauce
  • 1 cup nutritional yeast
  • 1 tsp paprika
  • 1/2 clove minced garlic (I used pre-minced jarred garlic)
  • 1 tsp dijon mustard
  • 1/3 cup extra virgin olive oil

The original recipe called for 2/3 cup of canola oil and I just could NOT bring myself to put that much into the sauce.  Yes, healthy fats are good for you, but in limited amounts.  So I switched to olive oil and only used 1/3 cup.

Add the sauce ingredients in a blender, with the exception of the oil.  Blend them all together, then with the blender running on low, carefully open the lid and slowly drizzle in the oil.  Then replace the lid on your blender and increase the speed to blend a bit longer.

Once your brown rice noodles are done, drain them and then add the 1/8 to 1/4 cup Earth Balance to your hot pan, melt it around inside, then add your noodles back to the pan.  I like to do this so my noodles don’t stick to the hot pan and also because I was aiming for a little ‘buttery’ flavor in the mac-n-cheese.

Start to pour in your cheese sauce and stir, using only as much of the sauce you need to coat the noodles to your liking.  Put the rest in a container to use when you reheat your mac-n-cheese leftovers (or try adding some to warm veggies – very good!)

Add some salt and pepper to your taste:

And then dish a little serving to enjoy for yourself.

Keep in mind the while the brown rice noodles are much healthier than refined white flour pasta noodles, they are still high in carbs and calories.  I like to keep my serving to less than 3/4 cup and use it as a side dish, or boost the volume & nutrients of it by stirring in some leftover roasted veggies, like mushrooms and zucchini.

THE VERDICT:

I loved it.  It’s certainly not what you might expect a mac-n-cheese to taste like, but it fit the bill of comfort food to me.  MSP wasn’t a fan, and could taste the paprika right away.  His mom wasn’t a big fan either.  But for ME, I’ll make it again.  I had this as leftovers 5 times from the first batch, because I liked it a lot.  I love having something creamy and warm to eat, while knowing that I’m still making a smart choice with the ingredient selection.  Next time around, I think I’ll back off the paprika and back off the soy sauce a bit, and see if MSP likes it better that way.

If you have any thoughts as to what you think you’d do to tweak it, please share!  I always love your input!

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The countdown is on!  Only one week left till school starts!  I hope this week flies by like the last one did, because I cannot WAIT to get started!

– Shari B. =)

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