I started my plant-based nutrition certificate program earlier this week and have been feeling very inspired to test out more plant-based recipes in the kitchen. Even before I started the program, I felt as if I was operating in a split kitchen (trying to balance meals with meat and meals without meat). Kevin is a huge fan of meat and insists on having meat at every meal throughout the week. I’m more of a flexitarian and only eat meat occasionally, mostly on weekends. Therefore, when I prepare meals, I have to find a creative balance to prepare a meaty meal Kevin will love and a meatless meal I would enjoy. I have slowly been trying to recreate vegetarian and vegan versions of some of Kevin’s favorite dishes. I started the plant-based nutrition program in the hopes of gaining a better understanding of the advantages and disadvantages of specific diets and lifestyles. Plus, I was just overall curious about the whole food, plant-based diet and wanted to learn more about it in detail through a structured certificate program. In an effort to expand my culinary horizon, I’ve been testing out more vegan recipes in my kitchen. Recently, I’ve challenged myself to recreate some of my favorite dishes without using any animal products. It was difficult at first because I ate dairy products my whole life, but once I started testing out dairy alternatives, I found the dairy alternatives to work just as well in satisfying my cravings. One recipe I’ve been working on recreating for some time now is my seasoned two cheese macaroni and cheese. It has the distinctive creamy texture and cheesy flavor from the two types of cheeses and milk I use and it is further enhanced with some garlic powder, paprika, and mustard powder. The combination of the cheeses and seasonings really makes for a comforting and decadent macaroni and cheese. When I set out to create a vegan version of my seasoned macaroni and cheese, I tested out a lot of dairy alternatives to see which one would come closest to the creamy texture of my seasoned macaroni and cheese. I finally discovered the delightful, toasty flavor of roasted cashews soaked in water overnight as a wonderful substitute for the cheese and milk I typically use when making macaroni and cheese. The soaked roasted cashews, blended in some water, salt, and seasonings tasted exceptionally good and was very close in texture and flavor to my seasoned two cheese macaroni and cheese. To add the cheesy element to the vegan mac, I added in two tablespoons of nutritional yeast. Once blended together, the creamy seasoned cashew sauce was perfect for topping on some elbow macaroni pasta. After testing the recipe on four separate occasions using different ratios of spices, I finally came up with a satisfying version I could stick with in the long term. The flavors of my seasoned vegan mac turned out so good, it became part of my monthly rotation of meals. It was also extremely easy to whip together and satisfied even the most intense of macaroni and cheese cravings. The best part was how quickly the seasoned vegan mac came together from start to finish. In less than 30 minutes, I was able to enjoy the vegan mac before returning to my studies. Kevin was pleasantly surprised by how good the seasoned vegan mac was and could not believe it was dairy free.
For the seasoned vegan mac:
· ½ (16 oz.) box of elbow macaroni pasta, cooked according to package instructions
· 1 cup roasted cashews, soaked in a cup of water overnight
· 2 tablespoons nutritional yeast
· ¼ teaspoon kosher salt
· ½ teaspoon paprika
· ½ teaspoon mustard powder
· ½ teaspoon garlic powder
· ¼ teaspoon turmeric
· ¼ teaspoon freshly cracked tricolor peppercorns
· ¾ cup water
Directions:
1) The evening before, soak one cup of roasted cashews in one cup of water. Set aside.
2) The next day, cook the elbow pasta according to package instructions.
3) As the pasta is cooking, drain the cashews from the water it has been soaking in. Add the cashews into a food processor. Add in the nutritional yeast, kosher salt, paprika, mustard powder, garlic powder, turmeric, and freshly cracked tricolor peppercorns. Close the lid of the food processor and blend all of the ingredients for about a minute. The mixture will still be chunky at this point. Gradually add in the water ¼ cup at a time and blend for 30 seconds between each addition of the water. Continue blending the ingredients together until you achieve your desired sauce consistency.
Takeaways: The first two times I made seasoned vegan mac, I did not include turmeric and used regular black peppercorns instead of tricolor peppercorns. The vegan mac turned delicious both times. The next two times, I included turmeric to add a nice yellow hue and earthy flavor to the macaroni and cheese. I also used tricolor peppercorns instead of black peppercorns to add a different spice element to the seasoned vegan mac. If you don’t have turmeric or tricolor peppercorns, you can omit the turmeric and substitute in regular black peppercorns. The seasoned vegan mac will taste equally delicious.