Mac and no cheese

The first week or so I was on this plan, I had an intense craving for mac and cheese. I love mac and cheese but I love to hate it. I would never order it out but man oh man, if calories (ha, or lactose) weren't an issue, I'd eat it once a week. Last time I made it though was back in November when I couldn't silence the craving.

Seeing as how I am choosing to not eat cheese, mac and cheese seemed like an impossibility until I started doing some research. Turns out you can mimic the taste and texture of cheese fairly easily. It won't taste just like cheese, but it takes the edge off and for the most part, is not that bad (how many times can I say "cheese" in this blog?).

So I found veganyumyum and this lady not only has beautiful pictures, her recipes seem fairly easy and not too fancy, and her mac and cheeze was under her favorites. I read some reviews and decided this would be the recipe I'd use. Problem was I had never heard of half the items in the ingredients. Nutritional yeast? Tamari? Luckily for me I have a cube mate who is from California and fairly familiar with vegan items. And she doesn't laugh at my ignorance too much. She informed me that I'd probably have to go to a Whole Foods or a Trader Joe's to get the items needed for this recipe. Awesome. I love Trader Joe's and have always wanted to visit a Whole Foods, so I googled mapped them near Waldorf and....nothing. Not within 40 miles anyway.

There's a Whole Foods about a mile from my office, so I made the walk there. I really wish I had someone with me because I was so lost in this store and felt so dumb. I knew the items I was there for but didn't know which section or what they looked like, so my first Whole Foods visit was a big overwhelming. I managed though except for the tamari and came back with my list (and the best pear I've had in a while. And no I didn't eat the whole thing, sticker included).

Next time I make this, I will premeasure and set aside my ingredients because it all moves so quickly. I was so worried about over cooking but it was okay. The recipe can be found on veganyumyum here but I made some adjustments based on what I had versus what I thought I had versus what I forgot at the store. Over all though, I really liked it. It wasn't mac and cheese but it was really good for what it was. I will definitely make it again and make sure to have everything on hand =)

Mac and Cheeze
Serves 3-4

About half a box of macaroni noodles

1/2 bag frozen broccoli

1/3 Cup Earth Balance Margarine
1/4 Cup All Purpose Flour
2 1/2 Tbs Soy Sauce
1 Tbs Lemon Juice, fresh
1 Tbs White Miso
2 Tbs condensed tomato soup (reeeeally thought I had paste but nope)
1 1/4 Cup Almond Milk
1/3 Cup Nutritional Yeast
1 Pinch Salt
Black Pepper, to taste

Few Ritz crackers to crumble on the top

Begin by heating a sauce pan and adding the earth balance. Once melted, add flour and whisk vigorously until a smooth paste forms, called a roux. Be careful not to add flour to a pan that is very hot, or your roux will be lumpy and you’ll need to start over. If you mix in the flour as soon as the margarine is melted and you should avoid any problems.

To this paste, add lemon, miso, and tomato and whisk until well incorporated. The mixture should still be paste-like. Then slowly pour in the almond milk, whisking constantly, until it is completely incorporated. Add the yeast and mix well. Cook the mixture until it thickens, whisking often. This should take approximately 5 minutes, but it’s flexible. Add salt and pepper to taste.

When you boil the noodles, add the broccoli when you have 5 min left in cooking, just enough so the broccoli cooks but doesn't overcook. Mix the sauce and noodles together, crumble the crackers and bake at 400 for 15 min, just until the top browns a little.