Mac ‘n “Cheese”
It’s discoveries like this that make me wonder why anyone would ever eat food for which animals were exploited and killed when cruelty-free dishes like this exist! Heaven! Pure heaven!!! The angels who created this recipe have earned their wings, in my eyes! And for you “anti-vegan food” folks out there, this dish is made with all familiar stuff — no soy milk, no miso or tofu, no agar agar. Just simple, unprocessed goodness from the earth, things you’ve been eating all your life.
This recipe for Mac ‘n “Cheese” is similar in concept to the discovery which changed my world a couple of weeks ago. In a nut shell, the creamy, cheesy sauce is made by first cooking a mixture of potatoes, carrots and onion-y veggies until they’re soft, then pureéd along with the cooking water, margarine, and some raw cashews along with some seasonings and spices. That’s the key, in my opinion: a starch like potatoes or a grain like millet cooked and blended with nuts and seasonings to make the”cheese” sauce. Bliss, I’m tellin’ ya! I suggest you play around with the seasonings to your taste. I must admit that the final result was very true to cheddar cheese taste, if memory serves. Thank the gods for those who have come up with alternatives like this.
I haven’t calculated the nutritional value of this dish, but I doubt if it is a powerhouse of health. Potatoes, margarine and a scant trace of onions and carrots (added to create a natural orange-y color to the final product, I think) do not make for a super healthy dish, but it’s SO much better for you (and the cows) than its cheddar cheese step-cousin twice removed. It’s still a decadence, but who doesn’t deserve a bit of decadence every now and then? Put some steamed broccoli on the side to add some health benefit to the meal. Better yet, make a little extra “cheese” sauce and pour it on top of the broccoli! I used a 50-50 mixture of whole wheat pasta and semolina pasta but I think it would be fine with all whole wheat pasta, too. I’m really a mac ‘n cheese purist, but next time I may add a bit of chopped tomato to the mixture after blending and before pouring the whole shebang into the baking dish.
All in all, the golden, bubbly end product satisfied my taste buds beyond my wildest dreams. Bonus points for its ease of preparation, too! Suffice it to say, there wasn’t much leftover after I served it for dinner.
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