Macaroni and Homemade Vegan Cheese Down Home Casserole

I scan the pantry, the fridge, and freezer frequently to see what I can come up with using the produce or whatever is expiring soon so nothing is wasted. It was cold yesterday in Santa Rosa, California and I felt like some comfort food. I happened to have all of the ingredients to make a modified version of the tastiest Macaroni and Cheese evah.

This makes a 9 x 13 casserole.

Ingredients:

• 3 medium size red potatoes
• 3 medium carrots or 6-9 small baby carrots
• 1/2 white onion chopped
• 5 cloves of garlic
• 1 teaspoon of salt (or more to taste)
• Walnuts (2 cups)
• Nutritional Yeast (1 cup)
• 1-2 teaspoons yellow mustard (not dijon, if you use dijon, make it 1/4 of a teaspoon)
• Lemon juice (2 tablespoons at most)
• 1 box/16 oz. whole wheat elbow macaroni
• 4 slices of toast
• Paprika
• 2 tablespoons of Earth Balance

Cook the macaroni as directed on the box, drain and set aside. Add 1 1/2 teaspoons of olive oil and mix it up so that it won't stick together. I like to slightly overcook whole grain pasta as it has more of the consistency of white pasta when you do this. Usually it's just a minute more.

Have various spices to flavor up the sauce and color it: paprika, garlic, onion powder, salt.

Directions:

Preheat oven to 400 F.

Peel and chop in small cubes three medium size red potatoes, carrots, onion, and garlic. Place all in a pot with enough water to cover. Bring to a boil, cover and then simmer until very tender, about 20 min. A fork should effortlessly go through the carrots.

Drain the veggies, but reserve (keep) the water and set aside both a moment.

In a food processor, place 2 cups of walnuts, 1 cup of nutritional yeast, 1/4 cup of the reserved fairly hot water, 1/2 teaspoon of yellow mustard, 1/2 teaspoon of salt. Process until smooth. This might take a few minutes. Scrape the sides and add cooked veggie mixture and 1/4 cup of the reserved water, process until smooth. Add the lemon juice and mix it in. The cheese mixture should have a thick sauce consistency and taste awesome. It should be like lava or thick cake batter. I usually don't add more than 1/2 cup of the reserved water, since I don't drain the veggies very thoroughly.

Now taste it and bring up the flavor — if necessary — with garlic granules, onion powder, mustard, and little bits of salt. It should be slightly more garlicy and salty that you would want because you're going to mix it with the macaroni. Don't use more than 1/8 to 1/4 of a teaspoon of anything. I always have a bunch of tasting spoons on hand.

In a large pot or bowl, mix the sauce with the drained macaroni. Place it in a 9 x 13 casserole dish.

Place the toast in the food processor along with a hand full of walnuts, 1 tablespoon of paprika, and 2 tablespoons of Earth Balance. Process till it's crumbles.

Put this topping on the macaroni. Bake for 20 minutes.

Regular cheese has tons of saturated fat and cholesterol, no fiber, and barely any vitamins and minerals. This vegan version loaded with omega 3 good fats from the walnuts, lots of protein from the whole grain pasta and the nuts, b12 from the nutritional yeast, and is so much tastier. Try it!