Mac & Cheese

I think the holy grail of vegan food is mac & cheese. It's something that nearly everybody loves and misses. I've made many versions of it - nutritional yeast-based, fake cheese-based, and others, but this is the stuff that I've served to my daughter's friends knowing it would pass as the real thing. Vegan cheese is an acquired taste, but this is pretty darn good. It's not health food, so it's not intended to be made daily, but then neither is regular mac & cheese (no matter what your kids tell you)!

Recipe:

9 ounces of uncooked pasta

2 TBS margarine

1/4 cup all purpose flour

1/4 tsp salt

1/2 tsp ground mustard (the dry powder spice version, not the wet kind)

1/4 tsp vegan Worcestershire sauce (Annie's and Wizard are both good, most other brands contain fish.)

2 cups plain soy milk

1 block of Follow Your Heart cheddar, shredded (I do not like their shreds as well as their block - the shreds have a chemical taste - and my boyfriend hates Daiya's texture, so this is our favorite option).

1/2 cup seasoned bread crumbs (I used panko with a generous helping of garlic powder, onion powder, smoked paprika, dill, and some sea salt).

Ground pepper, to taste

Boil the pasta in one pan, then get to making the sauce in another. Oh, and heat the oven to 350. Melt the margarine in a big saucepan, then whisk in the flour, salt, mustard, and Worcestershire sauce.Very gradually add the soy milk, whisking constantly to prevent lumps. Once it is all added, boil while continuously whisking for about a minute, then add the cheese. Cook and stir frequently until it is melted. 

Drain the cooked pasta, then add it to the cheese mix and make sure everything is nicely coated. Pour it into a 9 x 13 baking dish and sprinkle the breadcrumbs evenly over the top. Cook uncovered for about 20 minutes, until nice and bubbly. Makes 8 servings and is best served with broccoli, because then you can mix them together and have cheesy broccoli too. :)

It gets a 4.5 out of 5 rating.

Calories: 281

Fat: 13 g

Carbs: 33.4 g

Fiber: 3 g

Sugars: 2.9 g

Protein: 7.7 g

Vitamin A: 2%

Calcium: 10%

Iron: 11%