Mac N’ Cheez

As a new vegan, the one thing that I’ve really been missing is bacon. I have YET to find a good vegan bacon. If you find one. Holler at your girl.

This recipe isn’t about bacon. I just wanted to share that with you. However, another food group I thought I was going to miss, was cheese. I’ve always loved cheese. Melty, creamy, tasty.. CHEESE! But alas, that stuff comes from cows and that is gross. So vegan cheese. Some brands, not so bad, others, taste like cardboard.

This Mac N’ Cheez recipe, does not taste like cardboard. It tastes like creamy, melty, tasty… CHEESE! Try it out..

MAC N’ CHEEZ

Ingredients

1/3 cup coconut oil

1/4 cup nutritional yeast

4 tsp dry mustard

1 tbs tomato paste (side question: what do you guys do with all the leftover tomato paste? Every recipe calls for only, like, 1 tbs but you have to buy a whole can!)

2 garlic cloves, minced

Ss. Ss. Ss. Salt and Pepas HERE

Just a splash of turmeric

4 and 1/2 cups UNSWEETENED almond milk

About 3 cups of chopped up cauliflower (almost a whole head)

1/2 cup of raw cashews

Macaroni

1 carrot

1 zuchini

1 broccoli

1 bell pepper (pick your fave color!)

Olive oil

FIRST, heat up your COCONUT OIL (accidently used olive oil the first time – it worked – but use coconut oil) in a pretty large pan, until it’s all shiny and new over medium heat. Stir in your nutritional yeast, mustard, tomato paste, garlic, SALT, and turmeric. Cook that shit up until it’s smelling all goooood (only like 30 secs). THEN, stir in you UNSWEETED almond milk and bring it to a simmer. FINALLY, stir in your cauliflower and cashews, reduce the heat a bit, cover it a little bit, and let it simmer and cook about 20 minutes. OR until the cauliflower is very soft.

While that little mixture is cooking up, chop up your veggies! Actually, before you chop up your veggies, preheat your oven to 400 degrees, we all know that shit takes forever. Anyways, the carrot and zuchini can be chopped up in to little veggie coins as Mike would call them. Chop up your broccoli and bell pepper as well. Throw your chopped veggies in to a bowl and dress them up with a little olive oil, salt, pepper, and red pepper flakes if you are feeling feisty. Place them on a baking sheet and bake for 15 to 20 minutes, checking and flipping them around half way.

You can also cook up your macaroni, you beautiful, vegan mac n cheez maker, you!

Once your cauliflower/cashew mixture is all soft and done, work in batches to blend it up. You SHOULD use a food processor. We have a Nutribullet, so it took us a lot longer, and we struggled a bit, but we did it. When you have blended all that creamy freaking goodness together, taste it. Ours was a little bland and I needed to add more salt, but it was so magical after that. Then mix it with your cooked and drained macaroni in a big dish you can throw in your oven for a few. Sprinkle some breadcrumbs of your choice on top of your cheezy mixture, and some parsley for good luck.

Take your tasty veggies out of the oven when they are done and turn it on broil. Throw your oozy, cheezy, beautiful mixture in the oven for about 5 minutes. You might need a little more time but you want it nice and crispy on top (see pic below). Once it is crispy and cooled, get yourself a nice big spoonful and throw it in a bowl. Toss some of your veggies on top, and voila! Bon apetit.