Vegan Mac & Cheese Bake
This mac & cheese is as tasty and decadent as any traditional mac & cheese. The topping is definitely a game changer. I recently learned from Liz Moody (she can be found on Instagram) that hemp seeds make a delicious “breadcrumb” like topping that is packed with omega-3 fats, and fiber! They are bland enough that they really take the flavor of the garlic which adds so much flavor to this dish. The added vegetables are for flavor and color which really are just a bonus nutritional punch. I love any recipe that makes me feel like I’m indulging but is secretly nourishing and healthy!
Pastas:
I like to use pastas made from chickpea flour or lentil flour and luckily there are so many brands on the market now that are using these ingredients! I’m not opposed to carbs, I think they’re very important and obviously delicious. However, white pasta turns to sugar pretty quick into digestion which spikes your blood sugar and doesn’t keep you full for very long. Whole wheat and whole grain pastas do not spike your blood sugar as much because they contain fiber! If you’re going for a gluten-free option then there are chickpea, lentil, brown rice, quinoa pastas and so many more!
Tools Needed:
-High-powered blender
-Oven
-Wide baking dish (not too deep)
Ingredients
-1/4 spanish onion
-2 small sweet potatoes
-1 cup of raw cashews
-1/2 cup nutritional yeast
-1/2 cup oat milk (or any unsweetened dairy-free milk)
-1/2 tbsp garlic powder
-1/2 tsp paprika
-1 tsp salt
-Juice from 1 lemon
-Pinch of black pepper
-¼ tsp cayenne pepper
-1 lb pasta of choice (I went with brown rice and quinoa fusilli)
Topping
-¼ cup hemp seeds
-3 cloves of minced garlic
-¼ tsp sea salt
-¼ tsp garlic powder
-1 tbsp Fresh or dried parsley
Instructions:
Peel and chop the sweet potatoes and the onion. The sweet potatoes should be cubed to equal sizes and the onion can be cut into any size. Bigger slivers are easiest.
Bring a small pot of water to a boil, add in the potatoes, the onion and the cashews and boil for about 20 minutes, until the potatoes are tender and can be easily pierced with a knife.
Strain the cashews, potatoes and onions.
Preheat the oven to 350F.
Add the cashews, sweet potatoes, onions, nutritional yeast, oat milk, garlic powder, paprika, salt, lemon juice, cayenne pepper, and black pepper into a high speed blender. Blend on high for about 2 minutes until completely smooth and in a sauce consistency. Taste and add seasoning as necessary focusing on salt.
Cook your pasta in SALTED water for as long as it says on the package, then strain.
Add the cheese sauce into the pasta ½ cup at a time and mix. A total of 1 cup should be enough but there will be extra so add more if you want it extra cheesy.
Pour into a big casserole dish.
Make the topping: In a small bowl, combine the hemp seeds, minced garlic, sea salt and garlic powder. Sprinkle on top of the mac and cheese. An optional drizzle of olive oil over the top will make it extra crispy and delicious.
Bake for 45 minutes to an hour until the top is crispy.
Serve and enjoy!
Buffalo tofu mac & cheese
The leftover cheese sauce is great to have in the refrigerator (it should keep for about a week). Whenever you want healthy mac & cheese, you just boil the pasta, throw the sauce on top and get creative with toppings! Here I added buffalo tofu and some sautéed kale (Do not knock kale in your mac & cheese)! I coated the tofu with cornstarch and sautéed it on medium heat in some olive oil until it was crispy. Then I put it in a Tupperware with Frank's Red Hot sauce and shook it up until it was evenly coated. In the same pan I quickly sautéed up some kale and sprinkled salt and garlic powder on top. I mixed that all into my mac & cheese and had a delicious, easy, nutritious meal in the time it took for the pasta to cook!
