Me: So - E - what do you want for lunch? A PBJ or a PBH? Whadya think?
E: Ummmm...some mac n cheese. Please? Yes. I think that would be good.
As any mother knows - mac n cheese every. single. day. just doesn't work. For us, I try to limit it to once a week (and with there always being leftovers, it's really twice a week. Who am I kidding?). So the other night, Scot wasn't home for dinner. Which really isn't different than most nights except that day I knew he wasn't going to make it due to some dinner-thing with work.
So I decided to whip up some mac n cheese for my boys! I used Angela's slightly altered Quick and Dirty Cheese Sauce and thought I'd try to add some pureed steamed broccoli.
Epic fail.
We ate it, but it was grainy and green and tasted too much like broccoli. But I really liked the idea of getting an entire head of brocolli and all the nutrients into a mac 'n' cheese dish.
So I tried again, this time with Cauliflower. The result was fabulous -- both big and little kids in the house liked it and it was put on the "make again" list. YAY! It was creamy and thick and stuck to all the noodles. Due to the addition of curry in the recipe, it even looked like real home style mac n cheese. Bonus!
Curried Cauliflower +
Easy "Cheese" Sauce =
Creamy Curried Mac n Cheese
Creamy Curried Mac n Cheese
Cheese Sauce
- 2 T butter
- 1 cup almond milk
- 1 1/2 T flour
- 1/4 t garlic
- 1/2 t onion powder
- 6-7 T nutritional yeast (found in most big grocery stores or in Whole Foods in the bulk isle)
- 1 head of cauliflower
- 2 T OO
- 2 t onion powder
- 2 t curry powder (or a little more too taste)
- 1 lb short pasta
-- Cut your cauliflower up into florets and put in a microwave safe dish with a lid. Cover and microwave for 5 minutes until slightly soft. Meanwhile:
-- Melt butter in a small sauce pan over medium heat. While you're waiting for it to melt, mix the milk, flour and spices together mking sure there are no clumps.
-- Pour into the hot butter and stir stir stir! Add the nutritional yeast and stir until creamy - about 7-10 minutes.
-- Now put a skillet on medium heat and get ready to saute that cauliflower. once the oil is hot, saute the cauliflower with the spices until very soft.
-- Transfer the cauliflower to a food processor or blender and pour the sauce over top. Puree until smooth. Add to pasta and mix until all the pasta is nicely coated.
Enjoy with a large side salad and vegetable soup.
And since I did so great with that, I thought I'd give Angela's Pumpkin Mac n Cheese a go. It, too, turned out really well. The littlest dude wasn't a fan, but I'm not sure that had anything to do with the taste since he's teething mighty bad right now.
- 2 T butter
- 1 cup almond milk
- 1 1/2 T flour
- 1/4 t garlic
- 6-7 T nutritional yeast (found in most big grocery stores or in Whole Foods in the bulk isle)
- 1 c canned pumpkin
- 1/2 t salt
- 1 t oregano
- 1/8 t nutmeg
- 1/4 t cinnamon
- 1 T brown sugar
- 1 lb short pasta
-- Melt butter in a small sauce pan over medium heat. While you're waiting for it to melt, mix the milk, flour and spices together making sure there are no clumps.
-- Pour into the hot butter and stir stir stir! Add the nutritional yeast and stir until creamy - about 7-10 minutes.
-- Add the pumpkin and seasonings and stir until heated through and all creamy. (taste and make spice adjustments if desired)
-- Mix in with the cooked and drained pasta until all coated.
Enjoy with a large green salad and a slice of lentil loaf.
If you're not ready to try vegan mac n cheese, try this home style mac n cheese with tomatoes in it
Or this one with spinach and artichokes.
Can you tell I love me some mac n cheese?
NOTE: I will say, though, that these dishes are great strait out of the pan. Not as great a day later reheated. Something about the non-cheese "cheese" I think. But hey, it's just a great excuse to have a big ole pile of seconds!
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