I recently started a new category here: Veganize It. I take someone's non-vegan favorite dish and try to veganize it, in hopes of recreating my challenger's favorite tastes and memories.
Betsy was my first challenger. Since she and part of her family quit dairy they had missed Mac & Cheese. I tinkered around in my kitchen a couple of nights ago and made two different vegan, soy-free, Mac & Cheese recipes. This one came the closest to what I remember that dish to be. It is by no means the "real" deal, but it does make me think of it. In the future I might adjust the recipe a little bit more, but for now, since I am hearing that there are at least 3 great kiddos [and other people] salivating while waiting for this recipe, here it is.
Vegan Recipe: Macaroni and Cheese
Soy-Free! To make it Gluten Free use Gluten Free Noodles!!!
- 2 cups almond milk*
- 3/4 cup nutritional yeast [if you are new to nutritional yeas you might want to try 1/2 c less to start]
- 3 tablespoons corn or potato starch [I used corn starch]
- 3 tbs lemon juice, fresh
- 2 tsp sea or Himalayan salt [or to taste]
- 3-5 cloves of garlic
- 1/4 yellow onion
- 1/2 tsp paprika
- 1 tbs dry mustard
- 1 tsp turmeric
- pepper to taste
- 3 tbs tahini paste
- any other seasoning you might like
- 16 oz of your favorite vegan pasta [I prefer whole grain]
- Prepare pasta according to instructions and set aside
- While pasta is cooking blend remaining ingredients in a blender [I used my trustworthy total-Blendtec
!]
- Strain pasta and transfer back to the pot, pour sauce over it and keep cooking on medium-low-medium heat
- Stir constantly while sauce is thickening
- If you desire more flavor add more mustard and onion/garlic powder and/or turmeric
- Serve hot--I sauted 1 chopped onion in 2 tbs of olive oil and mixed into the pasta
- 1 cup pre-soaked almonds [they can be dehydrated, if still wet, make sure to rinse off soaking water]
- 3 cups water
- Blend in a blender for 1-2 minutes until almonds are broken and milky consistency is achieved
- Strain milk through milk bag or wine bag [I got mine for $1 at Michael's craft store!]
- If you don't use all of the milk, flavor remaining milk with a pinch of salt and a tad of raw honey
Serve with a huge GREEN salad!
You can use almond pulp to make various dishes, such as raw cookies, which I am not going to cover now.
PS: My hubby tried Mac and Cheese... and liked it! Even asked for seconds. So, it looks like you are safe to make and eat it :) [Mac and Cheese used to be one of his favorite dishes :)]
STAMP: Demetrye Approved :)
PS2: The dish actually tasted pretty good when I tried it the day after making it [I had to give my tastebuds a chance to rest overnight ;)].
Next Veganize-It recipe-Lemon Bars [Melanie's challenge].
