Now let me just first start by saying that by no means am I a vegetarian or vegan. I like to include all foods in my diet, and given my background with a restrictive eating disorder, I don’t think it’s necessarily appropriate for me to restrict my diet today. However, I do want to point out that I have NOTHING against those people who choose to be vegetarians and vegans. I’m sure it takes a lot of hard work and dedication, but it just isn’t the route for me.
Recently, it seems like the number of people going vegan/vegetarian is rapidly increasing, and as a result, there are all kinds of new “substitute” recipes for them to eat – vegan “macaroni and cheese”, vegan “scrambled eggs”, vegan “pulled pork”, and so on and so forth. To be honest, I’ve always been curious to see what these recipes actually taste like, and whether or not they resemble the non-vegan, “original” version. So today, I decided to see for myself by whipping up a batch of vegan macaroni and cheese.
At first, I was a bit skeptical. How could putting cashews and pumpkin (along with a few other ingredients) resemble anything close to mac and cheese? Well oddly enough, it ended up working out. Now by no means was this your traditional, ooey-gooey macaroni and cheese, but it was still creamy and packed full of flavor. The sauce was absolutely heavenly, and I was shocked by how much I liked it! In fact, I like this version way more than an original mac and cheese! And given my love of veggies, I (of course) added some peas to the sauce, because hey… there’s no such thing as too many veggies!
I ended up cooking a box of Banza chickpea pasta shells to serve with the sauce, which really did a great job of soaking up the sauce and making sure you got enough with each bite.
There was a ton of sauce left over, even after adding a generous amount to an entire box of pasta. So what did I do? I sealed up the container, put it in the fridge, and used it as the sauce for a pizza the next day (which also tasted absolutely incredible). And let me just say that the sauce was ten times better the next day, after the flavors all had a chance to blend with each other. Even though it was incredibly delicious the first night, next time I’ll know to make it the day before and let the flavors blend together a little bit more!
- 1 cup raw cashews, soaked in warm water for at least 1 hour
- 2 cups vegetable broth, divided
- ⅓ cup nutritional yeast
- 2 tsp. dried parsley flakes
- 1 tsp. dried basil leaves
- ½ tsp. rubbed sage
- 1 TBSP Dijon mustard
- 1 - 2 TBSP lemon juice
- 3 cloves garlic, minced
- 1 TBSP tomato paste
- 1 (15-ounce) can pumpkin
- ½ tsp. each: ground cinnamon, ground nutmeg, garlic powder, black pepper, sea salt
- ¼ tsp. pumpkin pie spice
- 1 box pasta chickpea pasta
- 1 cup frozen peas or broccoli, optional
- Before starting, place cashews in a bowl with warm water and allow to soak for at least one hour (up to overnight).
- If using frozen peas or broccoli, bring to room temperature.
- Boil a pot of water and then add pasta. When cooked, drain and set aside.
- Add cashews, nutritional yeast, and 1 cup vegetable broth to a food processor and pulse until mixture becomes smooth and creamy. Add Dijon mustard, lemon juice, dried parsley, dried basil, and rubbed sage. Continue to blend until mixture is smooth.
- In a large pot over medium heat, heat ~1 TBSP olive oil or ghee over mdium heat. Add the minced garlic, tomato paste, and pumpkin. Mix well, and then stir in the remaining 1 cup of vegetable broth and all of the spices.
- Add the cashew mixture, stir well, and cover with a lid. Allow the sauce to simmer on low heat for 10-15 minutes, or until thickened.
- Stir in 1 cup peas or vegetables, if using, and then cook for an additional 5 minutes, or until peas are heated through.
- Pour the sauce over cooked pasta, or use as a sauce for pizza.
