While I’m hesitant to call this macaroni and cheese, that’s essentially what it is – but in the vegan world.
I’ve been vegan for 4 months now, and two other times I tried mac n cheeze. The first time contained mustard, which was so unappealing that even my dogs wouldn’t touch it. The second time was a boxed version, and I couldn’t get past the grittiness of the flour which was what made it thicken.
So this, this was my third attempt. I found this particular version thanks to Angela at VegAngela.com who found the original recipe at Epicurean Vegan.
So before I continue, rest assured that this past the Omnivore husband test, but it was easier to accept as a cashew CREAM sauce rather than a “Macaroni and Cheese.”
Since I’m not quite sure how she feels about other people publishing her recipes, I’ll ask you to visit her site for THE RECIPE. When I have adjusted the recipe to our tastes (we used Almond milk and the combination between the light miso, cashews and almond milk made it rather sweet).
But, for some information on it, it features – raw cashews, miso, lemon, a handful of other ingredients and of course lots and lots of noosh. This recipe would also be fantastic over vegetables. Clearly, you can use whatever pasta you enjoy, my husband noted that with more garlic it would have been similar to alfredo.
Also… I have just purchased Quinoa for the first time. I’ve never tasted it, cooked it, and barely ever seen it… soo…
[UPDATE: While the re-heated version of this wasn’t as PRETTY, we decided it tasted better reheated. We also decided that it turned out pretty sweet, so next time we’re going to try to make this into more of an alfredo with more garlic, etc. Also, this shits addicting!!]
Crash Test Vegetarian 
http://legallyblissful.wordpress.com/2011/07/06/love-casserole/ 🙂 the one thing I would add (to make it a little richer)- melt down a half cup or so of Earth Balance and pour it all over the casserole before baking. Yay quinoa!
Wow, that rotini looks so yum! I have yet to find a vegan mac n cheese that really replicates the non-vegan versions, but I’m pretty happy with the Amy’s frozen mac n cheese as a comforting substitute.
As for the quinoa, I’m a pretty big fan of the stuff… I really like it in quinoa puttanesca, which I incidentally just posted on my blog- I use the PPK recipe. Otherwise, you can use it as a substitute for brown rice in a stir-fry or with burritos… it’s really versatile. Sometimes I throw it into soup to add texture and protein. A lot of people don’t like it the first time they eat it, so I recommend to keep trying it if your first recipe isn’t a total winner for you! But being the fab creative culinary goddess you are, I’m sure you’ll make great use of it. ; )
It definitely isn’t macaroni and cheese. It reminds me more of a fancy nut cream (wow that sounds dirty) sauce that you’d get at an expensive restaraunt. It’s worth a try!
I just wanted to let you know that Amy’s mac and cheese (the frozen one) contains casein. Casein is a milk protien and is one of the sneaky unvegan ingredients.
Actually, amy’s came out with a frozen vegan Mac n cheese a few months ago. It is made with daiya and clearly labelled vegan.
Yea! Glad you liked it! Also, for a more mac n’ cheese dish, have you tried VegNews’ recipe? It’s outstanding! http://epicureanvegan.com/2011/05/28/vegnews-macaroni-and-cheese/
I will definitely be trying it as soon as I recover from my cashew sauce coma. 🙂
Hi Izzy – So glad you liked this. You’re right, it’s got a slightly sweet taste and it would be like Alfredo if you added more garlic. That’s pretty much how i came up with my latest post for “raw Alfredo”. Thanks for the shout-outs – I’m adding your blog to my RSS reader right now 🙂
Oh, and here’s a list of my quinoa recipes (http://www.vegangela.com/?s=quinoa). The black bean salad and spiny peanut salad are awesome and I love the quinoa chili for a warm dish. Looking forward to seeing what you make with yours!
All the best! A
I am so crazy about all kinds of creamy vegan sauces hmmmm. one thing you can try if you want to make this more like alfredo is finely chop up some smoked tofu (or vegi bacon bits) and sprinkle that ontop, its delish! for mock cheese sauce i usually fry/caramelise onions with a leeetle bit of soy sauce, then make a normal “white” sauce in the traditional way using flour and soy/almond/rice milk, add a lil paprika and garlic to that too, its quite tasty.
Quinoa is one of my fave things to eat… its so good! use it in place of anywhere you’d use rice. you can also cook it into a creamy sticky porrige, its makes a great stuffing too. it kinda resembles couscous to me. so sometimes i make it in a mediterranian style salad with peppers and aubergine and courgettes and olive oil. nummy :p
Oooo, tofu alfredo you say. Sounds good! I think the next time I make that sauce it’ll be over a big pile of broccoli. Mmmm.
I can’t wait to try this. I was always that person who said… “I could never give up cheese!! If I were to have a last meal, it would be macaroni and cheese hands down. I could never be vegan because I love cheese too much”
Well look at me now. Not that I’m a seasoned vegan, but I’ve been vegan almost 30 days. You’d think this would be prime time cheese craving mania, but I truly, honestly, don’t miss any dairy products at all.
I’m still excited to try this even though I’m not hankerin’ for cheese. I do love my white sauces and I havent had an opportunity yet to try a vegan one…until now 😀
I love cashew cream…I almost forgot I have cashew soaking right now so will try your version. Looks yummy!
Let me know how you like it!
Sounds good. I always forget to use nuts in a savory dish.
Hi, thanks for liking my post on Spanakoryzo! This pasta looks good, although I think I’d have a hard time finding some of the ingredients here in Greece. I too recently discovered quinoa and blogged about a yummy recipe for stir fry. It has chicken and egg but I’m sure you could substitute with something else to make it vegan! It’s really good! http://ontopofspag.wordpress.com/2012/02/12/quinoa-stir-fry-with-chicken/
You could also check out healthyslowcooking.com for great vegan recipes.
Ooooooo that sounds good!