I hated macaroni and cheese growing up (I also hated grilled cheese sandwiches and just about anything cheesy and gooey, so maybe there was something wrong with me). I've come to my senses now, but it can still be hard to get that gooey cheesiness in vegan food - especially with macaroni and cheese. I've had some bad vegan macaroni and cheese, and lots of mediocre macaroni and cheese.
After having the amazing "mac and yease" at Plum Bistro in Seattle, I was determined to recreate it at home. I looked at other people's versions online, adjusted to my tastes and what I thought was in their sauce, and this is what I came up with - my family seemed to really like it and not really notice it was vegan - which is always my goal! You'll have to play with the sauce-to-noodle ratio to your own tastes, and I have a hard time remembering exactly how I make it because I don't really measure things, but I think it's pretty darn good. It's not as oily as Plum's, because I'm pretty sure they pan fry theirs, but it hits the spot!
The cheese sauce is also great to dip chips in, or use to make nachos, or spread on a sandwich, etc. etc. etc.
Edit: I just noticed I already had a Mac and Cheese recipe posted. That's what happens when you never update your blog. I like this one better (sorry, Chef Chloe...).
Ingredients for the Cheese Sauce:
- 3/4 cup Earth Balance margarine (stick or tub)
- 3/4 cup flour
- 1 1/2 cups nutritional yeast
- 3 1/2 cups boiling water
- 1 1/2 tsp salt
- 2 tsp garlic powder
- 1 tsp tumeric
- 1 tsp mustard powder or 1 tablespoon mustard
Warm the butter on low-medium heat in a large saucepan. When it's melted, add the flour and whisk together until it's a smooth mixture, turning up the heat to medium.
Add the boiling water to the butter and flour mixture, and all of the tumeric, salt, garlic, and mustard. Let it cook and thicken, then stir in the nutritional yeast. It should start becoming a thick, creamy, bright yellow sauce, and you'll have a few cups worth. If it's too thick, add a little more boiling water. It should be pretty thick, though.
After stirring it for about 5 minutes, remove from heat. Cheese sauce is done!
For the Mac n' Cheese:
- Noodles - I don't even mess around with rice noodles (gluten-free) or whole wheat noodles (blech) because I'm already eating mac and cheese, and I don't care if it's healthy (it's not). But you can make your own decisions here. So get your noodles of choice, and cook them al dente. I like to make a lot so I have leftovers for days, so I'd cook a few cups of dry noodles so I can fill a large casserole dish.
- 1 package silken tofu, blended to a cream in the food processor (optional)
- Daiya cheese, cheddar and/or mozzarella, about 1/3 - 1/2 cup is good
- Bread crumbs (optional)
Pour the noodles into a big bowl (or directly into the casserole dish you're going to use) and stir together with the blended-up silken tofu (I think it just adds a little something extra, a little creaminess) and about 1/4 cup of each kind of Daiya (or 1/2 cup of one kind, or neither, it's up to you; the Daiya adds a little more creaminess as well). Pour in the sauce and mix around with the noodles, coating them evenly. You might have some sauce leftover (not always a bad thing - make more noodles? or dip chips in it?) depending on how much you want with the noodles.
Throw on some breadcrumbs if you want and bake at 350 degrees for about 15 minutes, until it's all bubbly and the Daiya has melted. And then eat it.
