Homemade Vegan Mac & Cheez

Do you ever have those days where it just seems like everything is somehow coming together, or things that you thought would never make sense, make sense? Yeah- it wasn’t one of those days, but it was close! Days in which we run, always seem to be better than the non-active days.

We headed out to pound the pavement so that we could make a new recipe I discovered, vegan mac & cheez. Sometimes running through the ‘hood reminds me of what I would imagine Puerto Rico to look like, and then the rest of the time it just looks like the Brady Bunch neighborhood, or Tim Burton’s Edward Scissorhands location.

alley time

After getting out all of those toxins it was time for a tasty soy latte from Starbucks, (thank you Andrea!) and get crackin in the kitchen.

my interpretation of me and B running. Chocolate Mint and Lemon Strawberry.

This recipe is from Chef Chloe, an all out inspiration; gorgeous, a cook, and vegan Cupcake Wars winner! What?! What?!

Check her out!

Ok, so this is suppose to serves 4 to 6, but I added two more cups of broccoli (trying to be good!) than what was called for and I think we will be eating on this for several meals!

Ingredients

1 pound elbow macaroni or piccolini

3 cups broccoli florets

¼ cup vegan margarine

1/3 cup all-purpose flour

3 cups soy, almond, or rice milk

½ cup nutritional yeast

2 tablespoons tomato paste

2 teaspoons sea salt

1 teaspoon garlic powder

1 tablespoon lemon juice

1 tablespoon agave (I left the agave out since I thought the tomato paste would help with sweetener)



looking cheesey!



Procedure

Bring a large pot of heavily salted water to a boil.

Add macaroni and cook according to package directions.

Add broccoli for the last 5 minutes of boiling and let cook until broccoli is fork tender.

Drain and return to pot.

Meanwhile, in a medium saucepan, make a roux or paste by whisking the margarine and flour over medium heat for 3 to 5 minutes.

Add nondairy milk, yeast, tomato paste, salt, and garlic powder to the saucepan and bring to a boil, whisking frequently. Reduce heat to low and let simmer until the sauce thickens.

Adjust seasoning to taste and stir in lemon juice and agave.

Toss the noodles and broccoli with the sauce and serve immediately.

voila!

I wasn’t hungry when I was making this dish, but once I tried it, it was hard to stop!