RETURN OF THE MAC

Cheese, glorious cheese.  In a million years, I never thought I could give it up.  But recipes like this made it possible.  Nutritional yeast (affectionately known as ‘nooch’) appears to be wildly beneficial to people with cancer, and this comfort food recipe shows you one way to use it!  Will this dish taste exactly the same as dairy macaroni and cheese?  Not really.  But maaan it’s still good.  In this case, there’s smoke and a little spice, and a nice crust of bread crumbs on top!  And that nooch really does the trick for a cheesy flavor, PLUS it gives you a good dose of B12!  I’ve brought this dish to non-vegan friends’ houses and watched it go bye-bye fast, so it’s absolutely worth a shot!

Prep/Cook Time:  Depends.  If you get the “cheese powder” prepped you can use it for a few meals (and just cook the pasta).  Starting the whole thing from scratch, around 30 minutes.

Servings:  4

Calories:  175 per serving (Whaaat?!?  For MAC and CHEESE?!?)

Macros:  Protein 8g/Fat 5g/Good Carbs 27g per serving

So, in case you missed it on the 3D View page…

INGREDIENTS

For the cheese powder:

1/2 cup cashews

1/2 cup nutritional yeast (nooch)

3 tbs flour

2 tbs corn starch (tapioca starch if you’re gf)

4 tbs garlic powder

4 tbs onion powder

1 tbs ground mustard

1 tbs sugar

2-3 tbs salt

3 tbs paprika (SMOKED paprika for this recipe)

1 tsp black pepper

ALWAYS ground flax seed

For the mac:

Any elbow, bow tie or shell pasta (I like whole wheat or brown rice pasta for a gf version)

1 cup any plant based milk (soy is good, oat, almond) UNSWEETENED

1 tsp vegan butter (any kind with a hippie sounding name, haha!)

1 tsp smoked paprika

1/2 cup vegan cheese shreds (optional, slightly less healthy if you use this)

1/2 cup bread crumbs

1/2 tsp red pepper flakes (optional, if you want more spice)

INSTRUCTIONS

1)  Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Combine all the cheese powder ingredients into a blender and blend until completely powder-y.

2)  Cook pasta to package directions but test the texture at 7-8 minutes.  Pasta should be chewy, not mushy, and still be firm (it’ll cook more in the oven).

3)  Drain pasta but leave a little pasta water in the pot (a few tablespoons).  Mix in plant based milk, butter, liquid smoke (if desired), 1 cup of cheese powder and stir.  Add more powder, a touch of water, and a sprinkle of shredded plant based cheese (if desired).

4)  Use pure olive oil to grease a cast iron skillet or casserole dish.  Put mac n’ cheese in dish, sprinkle with bread crumbs and red pepper flakes and bake uncovered in the oven for 15 minutes or until bread crumbs are brown (keep checking).

ERMAGERSH this is so good!