Mac and Cheeze with Broccoli

Two posts in two days? That's insane! I must be bored. Or actually cooking real food! Or maybe it's because here in Minnesota we are having yet another snow storm, this time with some freezing rain thrown in for fun. So here we sit...

I make this Macaroni and Cheeze with Broccoli a lot. I mean a lotta lot. Like maybe every other week during the winter. I can't even remember where I found the recipe, I just know it was on someone's blog. It is so freaking delicious, you don't even know. It's so delicious that every time I ask Garrett if he wants me to make it, his eyes get really wide and he nods his head vigorously.

This is sooo cheezy and easy. Imagine the amount of calories and fat it would have if I really used cheese. Yuck. This way is pretty low fat in comparison. And healthier by a long shot.

I usually use whole wheat penne pasta for this casserole, but this time I opted to use the box of quinoa pasta I found at the B&D for like 50 cents or some outrageously low price like that. I had never tried quinoa pasta before, but I am always willing to experiment with other kinds of pastas, and I feel a person should eat a variety of things, including gluten-free options. It was sooooo yummy! Grace was eating it while I was trying to mix things up. It was lighter than wheat pasta, if that makes any sense.

Since I can't really link to the recipe, and I have changed it up a bit over the years, I am going to share it with you. Lucky you! Comfort food at its ultimate best. No joke.

Mac and Cheeze with Broccoli

1 lb box pasta
1/4 cup vegan margarine
1/2 cup flour
3 1/2 cups water
1 1/2 tsp. salt
A few dashes black pepper
2 tbsp. tamari sauce (or soy sauce)
2-3 cloves garlic, minced
pinch or two of turmeric
1-2 tbsp. canola oil
1 cup nutritional yeast flakes
1 tsp. paprika
1/2 -1 cup chopped broccoli
bread crumbs

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Spray a baking dish with non-stick spray. Boil noodles and drain. Melt margarine in a saucepan - add garlic and cook for two minutes. Whisk in flour, then add the 3 1/2 cups water, tamari, turmeric, salt, and pepper. Stir until it starts to thicken- a few minutes. Then whisk in the oil and nutritional yeast flakes. Add half the sauce to the pasta and broccoli and mix well. Then pour the rest of the sauce over everything, top with bread crumbs and sprinkle paprika on top. Bake 20-30 minutes, then cool for at least 10 minutes to let it thicken up. This stuff is seriously better the next day.

Vegan Alfredo

My son Drew will eat spaghetti anytime. Really, anytime. Since he eats so few foods, I made it just for him yesterday. He can live on the leftovers for a few days.

Since I was boiling the spaghetti noodles anyway, I got the idea to make this Vegan Alfredo sauce from Vegan with a Vengeance. I freaking LOVE this recipe. ADORE it. Lick-the-plate-moaning love it.

The creaminess of the sauce must come from the pine nuts. Also, anything made with nutritional yeast is my BFF. Seriously, I could eat that stuff every day and marvel at the bright yellow-ness of my pee.

I always saute mushrooms to go with this dish, but this time, I felt like adding broccoli as well. How on earth could that go wrong? It just can't. I was not disappointed. I can't wait to eat the leftovers tonight for supper.

I haven't opened up my VWaV book in a while, and that's really a shame. I need to go back and make some more of those recipes again, and try some of the ones I haven't tried yet.

Spaghetti and Beanballs

I have been craving something with tomatoes and pasta, and this recipe from Veganomicon was calling out to me. Last night was the night. I was busy busy in the kitchen making two different sauces for the family. I used the marinara sauce from the book as well, and it was simple and delicious. The beanballs were easy to make too. I baked them instead of frying them. I think if I would have fried them, and made them smaller, they would have been chewier. They were a bit mooshier than I wanted them to be, but very yummy. I will make them again sometime. I served the meal with steamed broccoli.

I have also made one recipe from my new cookbook, 1,000 Vegan Recipes. I made the Mushroom Black Bean Spinach Quesadillas one night, and ate them with guacamole. Very, very yummy!

I have a whole menu planned for my next adventure. Samosa stuffed baked potatoes (from Vcon), vegan Toor Dal (a curried red lentil soup), and homemade chapatas (an Indian flatbread from 1,000 Vegan Recipes) with mango chutney. Who's coming over?

More Pasta Goodness

Last night I was thinking about supper and thinking about the veggies in my refrigerator. I was thinking about how warm it has been, and how I should fit a few good salads in before the cold weather sets in. I went to one of my favorite recipe sites and found a recipe for pasta salad that looked good.

I used a bag of gluten free elbow macaroni made with rice and soy flour because I had bought the bag at my favorite Amish store (which will here on out be referred to as the Bent & Dent, or B&D for short) for 50 cents. The pasta was delicious. I recently splurged on a jar of Vegenaise for $4.99 plus tax, because the stuff is just that good. The Italian dressing I had was fat free, so that helped the fat content some. Other than the fat from the Vegenaise, which is expeller-pressed canola oil high in omega-3 fatty acids, the salad was pretty low fat. And ohmygodican'tstopeatingit good. Seriously. TONS of flavor. I think this will be my staple for every family picnic or potluck I ever attend. Easy peasy. I have a ton left over. I ate it for lunch today and I'm looking forward to a big bowl for supper, and most likely lunch again tomorrow. And that's okay with me. I'm copying this recipe here because I made it a bit differently, and really, who the heck is gonna know? I don't think there's anyone reading this blog anyway.

Summer Pasta Salad

12 oz pasta (your choice)
1/2 red onion, chopped
1-2 large carrots, grated
1 green or red pepper, chopped
broccoli, chopped in bite-sized pieces
1 large cucumber, peeled and diced
1 cup Italian dressing
1/4 cup vegan mayo
2 tbsp dijon mustard
1 tsp dill
salt and pepper to taste
1 can chickpeas

Cook pasta - drain and rinse well with cold water. Add the chopped veggies. Whisk together the mayo, dressing, mustard, dill, salt and pepper. Add to pasta and veggies and mix well. Mash chickpeas with a potato masher until crumbly, then add to salad, mixing well.

Mexican Pasta Salad

I have been eating this stuff like crazy all summer and I can't get enough. I looked at my original recipe that I found somewhere online, and realized that I don't follow it hardly at all. So that means that the recipe I make is all my own. And that means I am going to share it with you so you can enjoy the spicy goodness. My daughter Grace loves this stuff. L-O-V-E loves it.

Mexican Pasta Salad

1/2 pound pasta (I prefer something small, like little shells, but I usually use Isreali couscous - quinoa would work as well)
1/2 red onion, chopped
1 can black beans, drained and rinsed
1 can Rotel diced tomatoes and green chiles (or one can of diced tomatoes and one can chiles)
1 red pepper, diced (or mix up green, red, yellow, whatever)
2 tbsp balsamic vinegar
3 tbsp lemon juice
2 tsp cumin
1 tsp chili powder
dash of salt and pepper
1-2 Hass avocados, diced

Cook the pasta. Combine rest of the ingredients except avocado. Rinse pasta with cold water, add to bowl. Stir in the avocados last. You can wait until serving the salad before adding the avocados, but they really do hold up well in this salad, even the next day. Eat, enjoy, and thank me later.

OK, I have an anecdote to share. I made this for a family picnic this summer, and I used the little shell pasta. My aunt was eating it (she loved it) and she asked me, quite honestly, how I got all those black beans inside all of the shells. It was really an accident, but I should have told her I slaved all day filling the shells with the beans to get it just right. Yeah. Cuz I got nothing but spare time...

Back to work!